Mossialos: When 70% of the population is vaccinated we can move on from restrictions

Elias Mossialos, professor of Health Policy at the London School of Economics, spoke about the dangers of the COVID-19 mutation, which is spreading rapidly in Great Britain and has reached Greece, about the opening of schools, the lockdown and the vaccines.

What he said about the opening of schools

"In order to decide on the opening of the schools, we will have to wait until at least January 10 to see if the extension of the measures announced by the government had a relative effectiveness," the professor said.

"I also stressed that without having the epidemiological data [...] and the effects that the closure of schools has on the psychology of students and their educational activity, it will be premature to say from the beginning of the year when everything will be open," Mossialos emphasized.

The risk of mutation

"In Britain, they claim to be more contagious than the current strain in Europe. They themselves estimate that it can be more than 55-70% contagious. This assessment has not yet been confirmed," the professor told Mega.

"What worries us is if it spreads faster than the one that exists in our country by the existing coronavirus strain, we may have a rapid increase in hospital admissions, resulting in more pressure on the health system."

The availability of vaccines

For the time measures will be released, Mossialos explained that this is something that can be discussed only when 70% of Greek citizens are vaccinated.

"This percentage is not accidental as we know that the effectiveness of vaccines is not at 100%," he pointed out.