Does Greece Have One of the Slowest Vaccination Roll Outs in Europe?
Eustathia Kampisiouli was the first Greek citizen to get the coronavirus vaccine. Credit: AMNA
Greece has been criticized for having one of the slowest vaccination roll out in Europe. But official data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDP) provide a more encouraging picture.
Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis was grilled at BBC on Thursday about the country’s preparedness to open to travelers on Friday. The journalist insisted that Greece is vaccinating citizens with the slowest pace in Europe. This, however, appears to be only partly true according to the latest report by the EU agency published on May 9.
Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias touted the accelerating pace of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout at a weekly televised news conference today, even as Greece races to catch up with other European countries.
Greece ranks 26th out of 30 European countries in terms of the percentage of the population vaccinated with at least one dose (24.4 percent) according to ECDC data released on 5 May and published today by in.gr.
Croatia, Romania, Latvia, and Bulgaria are the only countries with a lower vaccination rate.
Kikilias announced that 2.3 million vaccine doses will be administered by the end of the month, bringing the total number of doses to five million (the vast majority being two-dose vaccines – Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna).
Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias touted the accelerating pace of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout at a weekly televised news conference today, even as Greece races to catch up with other European countries.
Greece ranks 26th out of 30 European countries in terms of the percentage of the population vaccinated with at least one dose (24.4 percent) according to ECDC data released on 5 May and published today by in.gr.
Croatia, Romania, Latvia, and Bulgaria are the only countries with a lower vaccination rate.
Kikilias announced that 2.3 million vaccine doses will be administered by the end of the month, bringing the total number of doses to five million (the vast majority being two-dose vaccines – Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna).
Kikilias went on to stress that the government’s Covid-19 committee would be
monitoring the situation with particular emphasis on popular tourist destinations and assessing on a
day-to-day basis the need for additional actions and measures.
“We will support our economy, we will support tourism, and in order to do that, public health rules must apply. People from abroad
trust our country, invest in our country, and decide to travel to Greece. We will ensure that this is done safely, that it is done in an organized manner, that people can be happy, that they can go on vacation, and that Greeks can do the same,” he said.
EU Fails to Find United Response to AstraZeneca Vaccine Risk
Bloomberg 2 hrs ago Joao Lima, Viktoria Dendrinou and Chiara Albanese
(Bloomberg) The European Union failed to form a united response to links between AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine and a rare type of blood clotting, missing an opportunity to inject momentum into the bloc’s sluggish inoculation program.
At a meeting that ran until late Wednesday, EU health ministers promised to continue discussions on vaccination planning and process. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides had called on the bloc’s governments to forge a coordinated strategy, saying it “will be key for us to speak with one voice.” The EU needs “an approach which does not confuse citizens and that does not fuel vaccine hesitancy,” she said.