Bracing for a wave of Omicron Variant-driven cases, Greece’s New Democracy government will keep tighter health measures in place a week longer as those over 60 who don’t get a first vaccination shot by Jan. 16 will be fined 100 euros ($114) a month until they do.
More restrictions were put in place at the end of December 2021 as the holiday season ended, after they had been eased to boost the economy driven down by more than 18 months of limitations.
The measures will last at least until Jan. 16 but the government’s advisory panel of doctors said it would regularly review data and make recommendations as the major rival SYRIZA keeps griping about the response to the pandemic.
While half of the workers in the public and private sector must work from home and masks are required indoors and out – with higher-safety KN95 or FFP2 or double masks for going into supermarkets, the ban on playing music in coffee shops, restaurants, bars and clubs may be lifted, said Kathimerini.
All entertainment venues still must shut down at midnight but there was no explanation why COVID couldn’t spread inside them before that time or if measures are being widely enforced.
In a bid to get more people vaccinated, the government’s edict for those over 60 to get a first of three shots by Jan. 16 is set to begin after recent reports that as many as 160,000 still hadn’t done so.
Violators will start being fined, with the 100 euros taken out of benefits for pensioners but it wasn’t said how the money would be collected from those working or if welfare benefits would also be affected.
Health Minister Thanos Plevris told SKAI that the only exceptions are citizens who have applied for an exemption for medical reasons and their request has either been accepted or has not yet been examined, or those who have asked for vaccination at home.
But the General Secretary of Primary Healthcare Marios Themistokleous said those would be rarely given. “Even if someone has a contraindication to one type of vaccine, they can be vaccinated with the other type of vaccine,” he said, with shots for those with allergies being given at hospitals.
Since the vaccine mandate was announced, more than 180,000 appointments for first shots had been made up to Jan. 11 for people over 60, many for at-home, with many in that age group scrambling to get the shot to avoid being fined.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: pixabay.com
