Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday, during debate in Parliament over a draft bill ratifying a so-called Covid-19 “digital certificate”, announced that the state’s encouragement of vaccinations will be “succeeded by an official position requiring the vaccination of (public sector) healthcare professionals and employees in elderly care units.”
On the heels of recent high-profile statements by public health officials regarding the same controversial issue, Mitsotakis disclosed that out of 392 intubated patients being treated on Tuesday in ICU wards around the country for acute Covid-19 symptoms, only five had received a vaccination for the virus.
Turning to the debate at hand, he said more than 230,000 Greek citizens have already acquired a digital certificate, which proves they have been fully vaccinated for the virus; have had a recent negative PCR test, or have acquired enough anti-bodies from a previous exposure to Covid-19.
The “vax certificate” was proposed last autumn by the Mitsotakis government, and has been implemented by a handful of EU countries so far. The aim of the digital certificate is to alleviate restrictions on travel, something that Athens is keen to achieve in order to jump-start and sustain the all-important tourism season in the east Mediterranean country.
At the same time, Mitsotakis announced that certain “perks” would be extended to fully vaccinated citizens, beginning in the fall.
