Update – 23/06/2021
June 23, 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 418,943. 16 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 12,581. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 277. 406 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 213 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 32 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday said that, thanks to the European Union, Greece has enough vaccines against Covid-19 to cover the possibility of a booster shot being required in the winter.
Brussels, he said during a meeting in his office in Athens with European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, “took the politically difficult decision to purchase vaccines as the European Union and to distribute them to member-states solely on the basis of population size, without any distinctions between countries, poor or rich, big or small.” It was, he said, “a significant success of European policy.”
“More importantly, we now have enough vaccines so see us through the winter, into next year, in the increasingly likely case that a booster shot will be needed by the entire population,” he added.
Kyriakides also upbeat about progress with vaccinations but described the current phase of the pandemic as “fragile.”
“What we are seeing in all member-states right now is a downward course in the number of coronavirus cases and, fortunately, in hospitalization, but we are also keeping a very close watch on the evolution of the variants, and especially the Delta variant, which, as you know, is causing problems in the United Kingdom right now,” Kyriakides said.
The officials also discussed greater integration of European health sectors, with Kyriakides noting that the pandemic highlighted the need for “structural changes.”
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias also attended the meeting.
The government’s coronavirus advisory committee is expected “this week” to consider abolishing the requirement to wear masks outdoors, the government spokesperson has said.
“We all hope that we are close to this given the epidemiological picture,” Aristoteleia Peloni told reporters. “In any case this is a decision that should be taken by experts, evaluating all the data, this week week.”
“The spread of the virus, however, continues and poses a risk to those who have not been vaccinated. For that reason, we are extending the free distribution of self-tests to population groups and we are making every effort to maintain a high rate of vaccination,” she added.
Regarding the country’s vaccination rate, Peloni said that as of Monday, “more than 7.5 million vaccinations had been administered. More than 4,520,000 citizens have been vaccinated with at least one dose, or 43.11 percent of the population, while more than 3,175,000 citizens have completed their vaccination, that is 30.24 percent of the population.”
The Delta variant of the coronavirus is raising concerns about the possibility of a fourth wave of the pandemic in Greece, said the head of the National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodoridou.
Speaking at a press briefing about developments with the virus, she said that if there is a fourth wave, it will bring less hospitalizations and deaths and will affect “only unvaccinated citizens.”
The variant, first identified in India, is the most contagious yet, overtaking other variants in Britain and spreading fast in the US, Portugal, Germany, France and Spain.
Theodoridou said the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine offers 86 percent protection and the AstraZeneca 66 percent.
Government spokesperson Aristotelia Peloni on Tuesday announced an extension in the distribution of free self-test kits.
“The virus continues to circulate and is a risk for those who have not been vaccinated. For this purpose, we are extending the free distribution of self-tests to groups of the population and we are making every effort to maintain a high rate of vaccination,” she said.
In response to a question whether pharmacies will remain at the forefront in the supply of self-test kits to the public, she said the government is waiting for the final decision of the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association.
In more detail, the 406 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
