Omicron not as dangerous as Delta; infected persons do not require oxygen

The Head of Greece’s National Vaccination Committee Maria Theodoridou  during her regular live briefing on Monday, pointed out that although the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is transmitted very fast to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, patients  admitted to hospitals do not need oxygen, and their hospitalisation usually lasts for two days.

This is a much shorter time than the 8 days on average for those admitted with previous variants of coronavirus. She also said that Omicron’s mortality rate currently stands at 6.6%  a much lower percentage than the 17% mortality rate observed in earlier mutations.

At least 40,000 children aged 5-11 have been booked for vaccination – since December 15, when vaccination for their age group began – and more than 6,000 of these have already received a dose, Secretary General for Primary Health Care Marios Themistocleous said at the briefing.

Regarding booster shots, Themistocleous said that 50%  of the 5,770,000 people eligible for a third dose have so far received it.

In terms of overall vaccination rates, Themistocleous said that a total of 7,360,000 vaccinations have been carried out for the first dose, corresponding to 79.8%t of the adult population (70% of the general population).

Inoculation appointment bookings among people aged over 60 – for whom vaccination is mandatory since the start of December – stands at 88% for that age group. This percentage includes those who have received only one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Finally, the health official noted that some 20,000 shots have been administered by some of the 326 private doctors and the 26 health clinics who are assisting in the national vaccination program.