Government mulling plans to ease restrictions for vaccinated people

The Greek government is mulling plans to ease restrictions for people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Kathimerini understands. 

On Sunday, Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis said that those who have completed their vaccination will be able to visit gyms as of May 17, provided there is no spike in infections until then. His comments were understood as a step in that direction.

Experts have suggested that restrictions could be eased for gatherings of vaccinated individuals. Traveling could also become less complicated, while testing requirements could be lifted. 

Vaccinated individuals in Greece are currently not obliged to self-isolate if they have come into contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19.

Speaking to Kathimerini, Manolis Dermitzakis, professor of genetics at the University of Geneva, cautioned that vaccinated individuals should not be given new freedoms unless Greece first sees a meaningful decline in the number of daily Covid-19 cases.

“If the daily number [of new reported Covid-19 cases] comes down to 20-30, then vaccinated persons could end the use of face masks, also in indoor public spaces,” he said. 

Athanasios Skoutelis, an infectious disease doctor and a member of the expert committee advising the Greek government, told Kathimerini that no new freedoms will be introduced before a “wall of immunity” against the virus has been built.

The government has set as its goal 4.5 million fully vaccinated individuals by the end of June, before the peak of the tourist season.

Health authorities announced 1,428 new cases of the coronavirus for the 24-hour period ending 3 p.m. Sunday, as well as 51 deaths.

The number of patients on ventilators continued its slow but steady decline, to 728 early Sunday afternoon from 737 a day earlier.