Vaccinations to Increase to 8,000 Per Day, PM Mitsotakis Pledges

Greece’s coronavirus vaccination campaign is being rolled out at a satisfactory pace, while the number of vaccinations performed will soon increase from the present 5,000 to roughly 8,000 a day, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised on Friday, addressing the regular coronavirus meeting at Maximos Mansion.
“The priority set by the vaccinations committee was clear: vaccination of healthcare professionals in public and private hospitals and, of course, the staff and residents in public and private care facilities and retirement homes,” Mitsotakis told his ministers.
The PM noted that another 51 hospitals were successfully added to the inoculation program without any problems on January 4, while an additional 55 will be added to this number on Friday and the last nineteen hospitals on the Greek islands will be added on January 11.

Possibility of more than 8,000 inoculations per day

A total of 223 vaccination lines will be set up in hospitals, increasing daily capacity to around 8,000 vaccinations a day — and possibly even more, Mitsotakis added.
“We are investing in transparency and accountability and the vaccinations that have been performed throughout the country and in each regional unit of the country will be posted each day on the emvolio.gov.gr website, a little before 6:00 PM,” the Prime Minister said.
The Greek leader also pointed out that this process was fully digitized, from the start, from the ultra-modern storage areas to the vaccination centers, ensuring the essential control at every step of the chain and allowing immediate intervention where needed.
Mitsotakis declared that the vaccination campaign was unfolding at a satisfactory pace, “methodically, with safety, transparency and, most important of all, without mistakes to date,” he noted with satisfaction.

“Safety, transparency and accountability”

“From the first moment we had agreed that the principles of our planning are three: safety in rolling out vaccination facilities and procedures, full transparency and accountability as regards the vaccinations carried out and the priority groups, and, following that, speed,” he explained.
The Prime Minister said that the gradual increase in vaccination rate was planned to coincide with the increase of doses arriving in the country from the start, as more vaccines by other pharmaceutical firms are given approval. The modern vaccine, produced in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just received EU approval on Wednesday.
“There is no point in speeding up further when only two vaccines have been approved so far… the available facilities are still limited and, of course, the entire operation is something unprecedented for our country and for the rest of the world. We are investing in safety and methodicalness and, in this framework, after an initial pilot phase that included nine hospitals, the first phase of vaccinations began on January 4 and will end on January 20,” Mitsotakis said.

27,000 Greek citizens have already received inoculations

The Prime Minister said that saying that there have been 5,538 vaccinations vaccinations of healthcare professionals, by Thursday and a total of 27,000 people across the country have received their inoculations so far.
Mitsotakis also noted that the electronic platform for the vaccination appointments for those aged over 85 will go live next Monday, stressing that this must be repeated and communicated in every possible way.
“All those already registered for e-prescriptions will receive an SMS with a proposed appointment,” he explained. “For the rest, or for their relatives that will help them with the process, there are three ways to book their appointment after the 20th. Either visit the platform emvolio.gov.gr or visit their local pharmacy and ask their neighbourhood pharmacist for assistance.
He then added that they may also go to their nearest Citizens Service Center if they still require assistance. Mitsotakis said the government has tried to make the procedure as simple as possible in order to ensure the greatest possible participation of those needing a vaccination, who are among the most vulnerable groups in the population.