Vaccinations at home under consideration

A plan that stipulates the vaccination of people in the 80-89 age group at home is under consideration, according to the deputy minister to the prime minister, Akis Skertsos.

Speaking to state-run ERT TV, Skertsos noted that the vaccination rate in Greece is the same as the European average and stressed “we can do even better,” referring to the home vaccination plan. He added that the first dose of the vaccines has already been administered to 25% of the population and that 10% has also completed both, adding that the vaccination of younger age groups is accelerating.

“Thousands of 30-somethings are booking appointments,” he said, while predicting a wall of immunity at the end of the summer. “We are already seeing a de-escalation in the hospitals,” he said.

The emvolio.gov.gr platform opens today for people aged 40 to 44 who wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine to schedule appointments.

Meanwhile, the latest sampling of sewage has confirmed a deterioration in the epidemiological picture of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace compared to the rest of the country. More specifically, last week there was an increase of 156% and 63% of the viral load in the wastewater of Alexandroupoli and Thrace respectively. Marginal changes were observed in Thessaloniki (-21%), Rethymno (+11%) and Agios Nikolaos (+25%). In Attica, a decrease of 33% was observed, with the load, however, remaining at high levels.

Health authorities confirmed 3,313 new cases of Covid-19 (from 76,844 tests) around the country, of which 1,581 were in Attica, 418 in Thessaloniki and 89 in Larissa.

There were 92 deaths of patients infected with the coronavirus, one of the highest numbers recorded during the current third pandemic wave. The number of intubated patients yesterday at noon was 813.