Yesterday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece will be getting 25 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available. The prime minister also announced that all Greeks will be provided coronavirus vaccines free of cost.
The vaccine will reportedly be out in the first half of 2021, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Friday. In a teleconference about his administration’s vaccine strategy, Mr. Mitsotakis said:
“The government has from the start treated the vaccine as a public good. For this reason, it will make it freely available, with no exceptions. We have an obligation to do so. At the same time, [a free vaccine] would underscore our commitment to the protection of public health.”
He also said primary Health Care and mobile teams will vaccinate the public via health centers, nursing homes, and that those who cannot move will be take care of. Mr. Mitsotakis also informed those attending the teleconference, that Greece has already taken measures to ensure the vaccine gets to the people:
“The purchase and deployment of vaccines have already been agreed at European level. The European Commission has already secured 1.1 billion doses that are in the final phase.”
The PM spoke only a few hours after Greek officials reported a new record in the number of case of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Some 3,316 new cases, 50 deaths, and 310 patients on ventilators case a dark shadow over the positive vaccine news.