Themistokleous: ‘There are no magic wands’

Marios Themistokleous, secretary-general in charge of vaccinations, on Wednesday highlighted the significance of the nationwide inoculation program against Covid-19 for Greece’s primary healthcare, praising the so-called Operation Freedom (Eleftheria) as “the best manifestation of the executive state.”

Asked during a panel discussion on the second day of Kathimerini’s Athens Health Summit about Greece’s relatively low vaccination coverage, Themistokleous blamed “a wide range of social, political and cultural factors.”

“There are no magic wands,” he said.

Greece has until now administered at least 13,696,351 doses of the coronavirus shot. Assuming every person needs two doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 63.9 percent of the total population.

Speaking about the booster dose against Covid-19, Themistokleous said that the recommendation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is six months after completing the primary schedule at the earliest.

“If the data change, so will we,” he said.