PM orders Covid vaccination for healthcare workers as cases rise

Vaccinations against Covid-19 will be mandatory in Greece for healthcare workers and nursing home staff as new infections in the country continue to rise, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday.

The measure for nursing home staff is effective immediately, while healthcare workers will have to be vaccinated starting Sept. 1, he said.

“The country will not shut down again because of some,” he said in a televised address announcing the measures.

“It is not Greece that is in danger, but unvaccinated Greeks.”

Mitsotakis also announced new restrictions to contain the spread of the virus, such as only allowing vaccinated customers indoors in bars, cinemas, theaters and other closed spaces. 

Authorities will also try to encourage inoculation of all personnel in the Armed Forces by bringing vaccination units to the camps, he said. Greece’s top brass were among the first to get vaccinated when the inoculation drive started in the country earlier this year.

[Reuters, Kathimerini]