MADRID — Spain's health minster says the country will begin vaccinating for COVID-19 on Dec. 27.

Salvador Illa said Friday the Pfizer vaccines are due to arrive in Spain on Dec. 26.

He did not say how many doses Spain will receive initially. The country has said it will receive 140 million doses overall.

Spain says it hopes to vaccinate 2.5 million people in the first three months of 2021, starting with elderly people and health workers.

After declining substantially in recent weeks, Spain’s infections numbers are starting to rise again although they are still among the lowest in the European Union.

Illa said the “situation is worrying” and reiterated the need to abide by restrictions over the Christmas period.