Update – 17/06/2021
June 17, 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 is 416,741. 13 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 12,478. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 330. 549 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 256 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 52 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias on Tuesday advised members of the public that have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to get the second one too.
He made his remarks after Greece’s National Vaccination Committee recommended on Monday that people under 60 not be given the Astrazeneca vaccine.
“More than 20 European countries, like us, are now recommending that the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine be given normally, as it has an infinitesimal number of side effects,” he said, attending the European Union Council of Health Ministers taking place in Luxembourg.
“Millions of Europeans have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca [vaccine], hundreds of thousands of Greeks, and they and their families have been protected from the disease,” he added, noting that Greece’s National Vaccination Committee is composed of outstanding scientists that perform their duties with the utmost dedication.
Kikilias said health ministers were gathering in Luxembourg to discuss the important issues of the pandemic, and in particular the European certificate, “which after all, is also a proposal of the Greek prime minister.”
Some 25 to 27 cases of cardiac inflammation (myocarditis-pericarditis) have been reported among patients who have been vaccinated with an mRNA shot against Covid-19, Professor Vana Papaevangelou, a member of the Health Ministry’s committee of experts, said on Wednesday.
It is not clear whether these cases are directly linked to the vaccines, Papaevangelou stressed, saying that they are being investigated by the National Organization for Medicines. The suspect cases reported so far in Greece have involved older citizens, in contrast to Israel, where complications relate to people in the 18 to 24 age group.
“The cases of myocarditis from the Pfizer vaccine are mild and have no lasting effect,” Papaevangelou said.
She also defended the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying that it remains highly effective against Covid-19.
European Union governments agreed on Wednesday to add the United States to their list of countries from which they will allow non-essential travel, EU diplomats said.
Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 countries approved the addition of the United States and five other countries at a meeting on Wednesday, with the change to take effect in the coming days.
Albania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Serbia and Taiwan will be added, while Chinese administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau will be included with a requirement for reciprocity removed.
EU countries are recommended gradually to lift travel restrictions for the current eight countries on the list – Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Individual EU countries can still opt to demand a negative COVID-19 test or a period of quarantine.
[Reuters]
In more detail, the 549 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
