Platform for booster shot after three months opens

Starting Friday evening, citizens are able to book their booster shot for the Covid-19 vaccine three months after their second vaccine.

Previously, they were able to do so five and a half months after the second dose and schedule a booster shot six months from the second jab.

Earlier Friday, Marios Themistokleous, secretary-general for Primary Health Care at the ministry, had announced the vaccine booking website would be updated with the new procedures.

He said that the National Vaccination Committee recommended speeding up administering a third dose as it recognized a higher risk of contagion from the Omicron variant and winter temperatures.

Similarly, people who have contracted the virus can take third dose three months after their diagnosis.

For those who have taken the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the situation will not change. They can take a booster two months after their first dose.

Themistokleous said that on Thursday alone, 30,000 bookings for the first vaccine dose were made. Of the bookings, 17,000 came from people aged of 60 and over.

He added that since the government’s announcement that all over-60s must be vaccinated by mid-January, a total of 45,000 bookings have been made from that age group.

In Greece, 78% of the adult population has been vaccinated, he said.