Following Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mistotakis’ announcement yesterday, the number of citizens over the age of 60 booking their COVID-19 vaccination appears to have tripled.
In a decision to make vaccination compulsory for those in that age group, Mr Mitsotakis also imposed a 100 euro fine for those that won’t comply and will not have booked an appointment for their jab by 16 January 2022.
According to Kathimerini the number of appointments in the over 60s age group jumped from 500 to 1,500 only one hour following the Prime Minister’s announcement.
Criticising the government’s decision to impose a fine on the elderly main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras accused Mr Mitsotakis of being “a vaccination saboteur” adding that the current plan “lacks planning and strategy” and is “sloppy”.
During a meeting with the National Federation of Public Hospital Staff (POEDIN), Tsipras gave his reaction to the measures announced earlier to make vaccination mandatory for citizens aged 60 and over. Those who fail to comply face a €100 each month from January 16 onwards.
“Instead of expanding vaccination rates in the population as everyone hoped, we will have a wave of reaction that will not help anyone,” Mr Tsipras said adding that “instead of imposing fines, it would be better to encourage – even with financial incentives – those to take the first and third doses”.
“We must convince people of the value of vaccination to save their lives and not to take half their pension in fines,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, for the last 24 hours of November, the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) reported that 664 Covid-19 patients are intubated in intensive care units around the country, a new rise from 657 the day before while new infections had also risen to 7,486, from 6,677 on Monday.
The total number of deaths from the pandemic reached 18,157 after another 88 people died in the last 24 hours.