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Operation “Freedom” is in full swing to shield the country against the coronavirus with the gradual vaccination of the population and, as today, Greece is expected to receive the first large batch of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines.
Specifically, with a special flight, which is scheduled to land in the morning at the Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos”, 83,850 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine against covid-19 will be reached.
Then the first large batch of vaccines will be distributed to the five central storage points and from there the distribution will be made to the vaccination centers.
It is estimated that the general vaccination of health workers will begin on January 4, it will be completed on the 20th, when the vaccination of the population will begin.
Vaccination information
“Yesterday, the start of vaccination was a day of celebration for our country, for Europe, for preventive medicine, for public health,” said Maria Theodoridou during the talk about the National Vaccination Coverage Plan for COVID-19 , president of the National Vaccination Committee, who was vaccinated yesterday. “I felt excitement, joy and moral satisfaction that the expectation of many months was sufficient to implement vaccines,” he said, emphasizing that the goal of everyone involved in vaccines is not to go unvaccinated.
Vaccine dose schedule
The Secretary General of Primary Health Care, Marios Themistokleous, referred to the schedule for receiving vaccines.
In particular, today, December 29, Greece will receive the first large batch of Pfizer-BioNTech, 83,850 doses that will be distributed to the five central storage points and from there they will be distributed to the vaccination centers. To this are added the 9,750 quotas that we received on December 26, “the same as those received by the rest of the EU countries regardless of the independent population of each country.”
Each week will be followed by the remaining deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines that correspond to our population and, according to the Central European agreement, we will be delivered 419,250 doses at the end of January and another 333,450 doses at the end of February.
By the end of March, we will have received only 1,255,800 quotas from Pfizer-BioNTech and this number is likely to increase if the EU agrees on an additional 100,000,000 quotas.
To these quotas will be added Moderna deliveries, which are expected to be approved by Coreper on January 6 and refer to 240,000 for the first quarter of 2021.
To these will be added the deliveries of the AstraZeneca company, and after receiving approval from Coreper, 500,000 installments at the end of January, 800,000 in February, 1.5 million in March and 2.2 million in April. Also to these, after approvals, will be added the deliveries of three more companies.
Vaccination schedule
Meanwhile, the vaccinations of health workers that began yesterday continue in the five reference hospitals in Attica “Evangelism”, “Sotiria”, “Attikon”, “Thriasio” and “Asklipieio” of Voula and by 4pm the 471 people had been vaccinated. One case of a non-serious allergic reaction was reported that was successfully treated.
Covid-19: Vaccines begin today in 4 Hospitals in the Region
Today, December 29, vaccinations against Covid-19 of health workers begin at Thessaloniki AHEPA University General Hospital and at the University Hospitals of Patras, Larissa and Ioannina.
General vaccination of toilets will begin on January 4 and the first dose of vaccination of toilets, nursing homes, chronic care units and rehabilitation centers is expected to be completed on January 20.
It is estimated, as said Mr. Themistokleous, that the vaccination of the population will begin on January 20, according to the prioritization of the National Vaccination Committee.
Prioritization criteria
Ms. Theodoridou reiterated the prioritization criteria for the vaccination method, emphasizing that “there is no evidence of arbitrariness”, the process has been based on documented data from world literature, international organizations and bioethical rules.
A higher risk of intellect is the first criterion. And old age has been found to be the number one risk factor for serious illness, the professor said.
The second criterion is the increased risk due to exposure to the virus and the main group at serious risk is health. “We are very pleased to note that there is wide acceptance of the vaccine by healthcare professionals.”
The third criterion is to guarantee the care and treatment of vulnerable people.
The last criterion refers to a small group of 50 people related to the functioning of the state.
This prioritization does not include people under 18 years of age. There are no studies, and fortunately the disease at these ages is mild, rarely serious, said Ms Theodoridou.
Citizen’s forms to make an appointment for the vaccine
The platform for citizens to make an appointment will open a week before January 20, when the vaccination will begin.
Mr. Themistocleous, recalled the ways to make an appointment. If you are registered in the intangible prescription, you will automatically receive the message (if you belong to the prioritization groups) of your appointment. The second way is through the embolio.gov.gr platform that with AMKA the citizen will be able to see if he belongs to the groups that are vaccinated when appointments are opened and if so, he will be able to make an appointment. They can also make pharmacy and KEP appointments.
“The process will be completely digitized and has been developed in such a way as to ensure that no one can bypass the prioritization to get vaccinated out the window,” he said.
He added that “safety valves have been developed and the National Transparency Authority has been activated for the previous control of the process.”
Digital vaccination certificate
According to Mr. Themistocleous, citizens who will be vaccinated after the completion of the second dose will be able to issue a vaccination certificate only for their own use, which will contain the basic information, when the vaccination was performed and the type of vaccine.
Allergies
As the professor said, with vaccination, some concerns come to the surface and sometimes even wrong impressions on certain topics.
Referring specifically to allergies, he said that according to the Infection Control Center and the Allergy and Immunology Society of our country, allergies to vaccines are extremely rare. There are 1.3 cases in a million doses. Like common allergies (food, medicine, dust, toxins, wasp or bee stings), these allergic reactions are not a contraindication to vaccination. He reiterated that in the design there is a preparation in the vaccination center for the immediate treatment of any allergic reaction. Only severe anaphylactic reactions may require your doctor’s opinion.
Virus mutations
As Ms Theodoridou said, the coronavirus has shown mutations. It is a normal development that can result in a change in its characteristics. Science is monitoring this development, but to date it is clear that these changes that occur in the virus, and are even slower than the influenza virus, do not represent a major change in the severity of the disease or the need to modify the vaccine. It remains effective and safe, he emphasized.
The disinformation virus
“We have to stop the transmission of the virus by observing all protective measures, but there is a highly contagious and dangerous virus for which there is not even a vaccine and this is the virus of disinformation,” said the professor. He emphasized that the spread of false and misleading news underestimated everyone’s intelligence, and “we are here to oppose vaccines most of the time because of vaccines and scientifically based knowledge. This is the only way to deal with misinformation.”
Finally, Ms. Theodoridou stressed that the vaccine will be our shield against the virus and the main weapon to escape the pandemic that has affected our daily lives and Mr. Themistokleous reminded that it is our responsibility to respect the measures. individual protection until we are all vaccinated to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
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