Sole resident on tiny Aegean isle gets the Covid shot

Irene Katsotourchi, the sole resident of Kinaros, a tiny island in the eastern Aegean, got vaccinated against Covid-19 on Wednesday.

“The message being sent by Kyra Rinio is clear. It is a message of hope… and of being responsible toward oneself and towards society,” the mayor of nearby Amorgos, Lefteris Karaiskos, told state broadcaster ERT using the septuagenarian’s nickname.

Katsotourchi reportedly expressed her desire to be vaccinated earlier this month, prompting the mayor to arrange for a mobile vaccination unit to join the mail boat’s fortnightly trip to the islet.

Greek health authorities on Wednesday announced 4,801 new Covid cases and 77 deaths. There were 683 patients on ventilators, of which 81% are either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.