Tsiodras: Covid vaccines have prevented around 8,400 deaths in Greece

Around 8,400 coronavirus-related deaths have been avoided in Greece since the national vaccine rollout late December last year, infectious disease expert and government adviser Sotiris Tsiodras said Wednesday.

The latest estimates also indicate that 5,530 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions have been averted thanks to the Covid-19 shots, Tsiodras said while presenting health data up to October 11.

He brushed off skepticism over the effectiveness of the jab saying that increasing vaccination coverage rates mean that the rate of infection among vaccinated individuals will also increase.

“The idea that vaccines do not work is just wrong,” he said.

The jump in confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections Tuesday to 3,739 was the highest number of daily cases recorded since the end of August and corroborated the assessment of health experts that cases will rise in tandem with lower temperatures as winter approaches and more activities take place indoors.

There has been a steady increase in epidemiological indicators since last week, with an average of 2,647 cases recorded daily, which is almost 400 more than in the previous seven days.

In addition, 29 new deaths were recorded Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 15,447, while 356 patients were being treated by intubation (87.6% unvaccinated or partially vaccinated).

The average number of new hospital admissions in the last seven days has exceeded 200.

The pressure on hospitals in northern Greece remains high, with the occupancy rate in Covid ICUs consistently over 90%.