Thursday, January 13, 2022
100 euros a month
Greece punishes unvaccinated seniors
Greece is rigorously enforcing compulsory vaccinations for those over 60. Seniors who remain unvaccinated must pay a fine. The reasons are impressive: 90 percent of the corona dead are older than 60 years and 8 out of 10 are not vaccinated.
Unvaccinated people over the age of 60 must expect a monthly fine of 100 euros in Greece in the future. The measure should come into force on Sunday, as government spokesman Giannis Economou told journalists. He justified the compulsory vaccination by saying that nine out of ten corona deaths affect this age group.
In addition, seven out of ten intubated patients in the corona intensive care units are older than 60. Eight out of ten are unvaccinated. “We must be on the highest possible alert level and there must be no negligence for the time being,” the government spokesman said.
The military should operate test stations
In view of a bottleneck at the corona test stations, the government also announced support from the military. Health Minister Thanos Plevris told the radio station Proto Programma that 50 additional free test sites should be built near barracks to relieve the pharmacies. There had recently been long queues there.
According to the minister, the delta variant now accounts for less than 20 percent of all infections in the country. The Omicron variant is still on the rise.
At the end of November, Athens announced that people over 60 were required to be vaccinated. According to official figures, around 67 percent of the population had been vaccinated at the end of November. More than 1.6 million corona cases and over 21,000 deaths related to the virus have been recorded in Greece since the start of the pandemic.