Update – 31/08/2021
August 31, 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 583,658. 19 new deaths were reported raising the total number to 13,656. The number of patients treated in intensive care units is currently 338. 2,343 new cases were announced yesterday in Greece. 614 of the new cases were found in the Attica region and 212 new cases in the Thessaloniki region.
Pharmacies will supply two free coronavirus self-test kits to specific groups returning from summer vacations from Tuesday and through Monday.
Those eligible for the free kits include unvaccinated public and private sector workers, as well as minors aged between 5 and 17 who have not been inoculated. In the latter case the kits will be procured by a parent or guardian with the child’s AMKA social security number.
Unvaccinated people 18-30 years old, with an AMKA or PAFPAA or PAMKA number, are also eligible.
The results of the tests must be declared on the self-testing.gov.gr platform, which will issue the relevant certificate.
With the deadline for health workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 or face suspension without pay expiring Tuesday, the government is sending a “clear” message that the law will be strictly applied – with all that entails.
“The law will be applied in full. The salary paid [to unvaccinated workers] in advance at the end of August will also be returned,” government spokesman Yiannis Oikonomou said Monday, noting that there are no guarantees that suspended health workers, “even when they choose to get vaccinated, will return to the same positions, given that the character, needs and organization of the national health system will to a degree have changed.”
“The epidemiological burden in our country remains at high levels and the next period will be extremely crucial in the evolution of the pandemic,” he said.
Echoing the same sentiment regarding the enforcement of the law, Minister of State Akis Skertsos stressed earlier that the government is not going to back down on the issue of mandatory vaccinations for health workers, emphasizing that “it is a matter of protecting the healthcare workers themselves and the health of the patients.”
He added there is still time for those few thousand that did not get their jabs to do so Monday or Tuesday, “so that there are no problems with their work or with the operation of the national health system.”
Meanwhile, the application platform for the recruitment of auxiliary staff will open Tuesday as final data on the unvaccinated are expected.
Concerned with a new surge of cases expected in the fall, the government is keen to increase vaccination rates and testing. To this end, pharmacies will supply free self-test kits to eligible groups this week and mobile vaccination teams from the Health Ministry will be parked on public squares and outside churches.
“Data from the National Public Health Organization show that the pandemic at this stage mainly threatens our unvaccinated fellow citizens,” said Oikonomou, noting that the need to shield the public from the possibility of new universal restrictions is dictating the nature and content of the safety measures to protect both vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Since mid-August, when the first wave of vacationers began to return, vaccination appointments have risen, exceeding even 40,000 per day. However, the government is intent on vaccinating another one million people as soon as possible.
Over 6 million Greeks have been vaccinated against Covid-19 with at least one dose of an approved shot, or 57.3% of the general population, the secretary general for primary healthcare, Marios Themistokleous, said on Monday.
Speaking at the Health Ministry’s regular briefing, he added that 66.5% of the adult population has received at least one dose of vaccine, while saying that 54.5% of the general population (5,715,000 people) or 63.6% of the adult population has completed vaccination.
The number of appointments for shots, meanwhile, is at around 20,000 a day as holidaymakers return from the summer break. Themistokleous went on to present rates per age group, including those who have completed only the first of two doses.
Roughly, the highest vaccination rates are among those aged 55 to 80+ (lowest: 72.8% for ages 80-84, highest: 84.8% for 75-79). They are followed by those 50-54 (70.7%), 45-49 (67.7%), and 40-44 (62.9%).
Age groups 25-39 rates range between 52.9% and 55.7%, while the 18-24 ones are at 42.7%.
The younger groups, 15-17 and 12-14, stand at 16.5% and 6.5%, respectively.
In addition, at-home vaccinations have reached 7,330 appointments through doctors and of these, 5,500 have already been completed.
In more detail, the 2,343 new cases detected per Regional Unit:
