Update – 01/12/2021
December 1, 2021
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As of the latest update by the Greek authorities, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 diagnosed cases in Greece 938,903. 88 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 18,157. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 664. 7,486 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 2,200 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 1,162 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Greece said on Tuesday it would make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for people aged 60 and over, a drastic step for the country grappling with a new surge in coronavirus cases.
Authorities said they would impose a 100 euro ($114) fine on every individual over the age of 60 who was not vaccinated.
The measure would apply each month from January 16 onwards.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister, said he struggled with the decision, but it was necessary to protect more than half a million elderly Greeks who had failed to get the jab.
“Its the price to pay for health,” he said.
About 63% of Greece’s around 11 million population is fully vaccinated. While vaccine appointments have picked up in recent weeks, health ministry data shows there are 520,000 people over the age of 60 who have failed to get a jab.
“We are focusing our efforts on protection of our fellow citizens and for this reason their vaccination will be mandatory from now on,” Mitsotakis told a cabinet meeting.
“Greeks over the age of 60 who have not been vaccinated must, by January 16, book an appointment for their first dose, or else they will face a 100 euro administrative fine every month,” Mitsotakis told his cabinet.
He did not say how this would be enforced. A 100 euro fine is a hefty chunk of the average monthly 730 euro pension.
“[The decision] tortured me, but I feel a heavy responsibility in standing next to those most vulnerable, even if it might fleetingly displease them,” he said.
Greece this month barred unvaccinated people from indoor spaces including restaurants, cinemas, museums and gyms as daily Covid-19 cases hit record highs.
November came to a close on Tuesday with the hard coronavirus data showing few signs of easing after one of the toughest months Greece has experienced since the start of the pandemic.
Despite basic vaccination coverage of the country’s adult population reaching 75%, Covid-19 claimed 2,219 lives in November alone, with 82.7% of those deaths relating to people aged 65 years old and above.
In its daily bulletin on Tuesday afternoon, the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) reported 7,486 new infections and 88 Covid-related fatalities, taking Greece’s coronavirus death toll to 18,157.
There was a small ray of hope in the seven-day average of new infections, which stood at 6,304, a decrease of around 450 from the week before, though the figure is still cause for alarm given that in the last week of October new cases had averaged at 3,900 a day.
The news is especially worrisome for the country’s over-burdened hospitals, as EODY reported that 664 Covid patients were on ventilators in intensive care on Tuesday; that was 67 more than a week earlier and 234 more than on November 1.
Wastewater studies, meanwhile, showed that the viral load remains high in most parts of the country and is rising steeply in others, such as in Patra, where it shot up 80% on Tuesday compared to a week earlier, as well as in Agios Nikolaos on Crete (+65%) and Ioannina in northwestern Greece (+40%).
“It is imperative that we cut the pandemic’s course,” Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga said on Tuesday after a meeting with the management of the Ippokrateio Hospital in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, where ICU capacity has been exceeded and several critical Covid patients are having to be treated in repurposed operating theaters.
“We truly have too many cases. The pressure the system is under is terrifying; the danger for each of these patients and the staff is terrifying,” she said.
The number of persons over 60 years of age who booked an appointment for a vaccine against Covid-19 tripled after an announcement by Greek Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier on Tuesday, making them compulsory for those in that age group, according to sources.
From 500 appointments booked between 11 a.m. to noon, when Mitsotakis made the announcement, the number jumped to 1,500 in the next hour, Kathimerini understands.
In more detail, the 7,486 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
