Greece's Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias couldn't hold back his tears when he referred to the heroic efforts of the countless healthcare workers on the frontlines, during Ant1's Special Report.
Kikilias gave an interview on the subject of the pandemic and the quantity of vaccines in Greece.
"We have several vaccines based on EU action and we will have more in the coming months. Procurement is done at this rate and we are given the opportunity to prioritise. From January 20, we move to the general population and those over 85, he said.
Regarding the vaccination rate, Kikilias said: "The daily vaccination rate will increase to 8,000 doses per day and depending on the vaccine supplies, as the more they come, the higher the rates will be."
He went on to say that "by March we will have 1.3 million Pfizer vaccines and 300-330,000 Moderna vaccines."
At the same time, he expressed his hope for the approval of even more vaccines, such as Johnson & Johnson, while developments around that of AstraZeneca are expected.
The minister stressed that in order to "build" a wall of immunity, 6 million people will have to be vaccinated, and noted that 75-80% of doctors have expressed interest in getting vaccinated.
Nearly 65,000 vaccinations have been carried out so far nationwide, equal to 0.59% of the total general population.
Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management: COVID-19 vaccination plan is for 2 million people per month
Regarding the ICUs, Kikilias said that they increased by 200% in Northern Greece and praised the work of Australian-born immunologist Sotiris Tsiodras.
"We have people who have worked with self-denial. These people deserve to be respected and loved by the world. Sotiris Tsiodras is one of the people we have bonded with the most. My suggestion is to reward doctors and nurses with extra money."
"It makes sense for a minister who has started something, to stay in his position until the end. I am inextricably linked to nurses, nurses, bankers, doctors. Their efforts are just admirable," he concluded with tears in his eyes.
Not all heroes wear capes and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the real heroes, the frontline workers, wear scrubs.
Latest covid-19 numbers in Greece
Greece recorded 671 new cases of COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
This raises the total number of cases to 146,688.
5,673 are considered to be related to travel from abroad and 44,562 are related to an already known case.
Three hundred and forty individuals are in ICU. Their median age is 68 years. 86.5% have an underlying condition or are aged 70 years and above.
A total of 1,000 patients have been discharged from ICUs since the start of the pandemic in Greece.
The country’s pandemic death toll stands at 5,354. The median age of all was 79 years and 95.5% of the deceased had an underlying condition and/or age of 70 years or more.
