ATHENS: Inhabitants of remote Greek islands received the COVID-19 vaccine this week as the government rolled out its inoculation campaign to include tiny villages, some with no more than a couple of dozens inhabitants.
Many of the islands have been shielded by distance and life has continued relatively undisturbed by the pandemic. The vaccinations are aimed at ensuring that continues before the summer months brings in a hoped-for influx of tourists.
“It is important for our island, it is both symbolic and practical,” said Sofia Kouvalaki, as she went in for a shot at a medical center on Kastellorizo, an island in the eastern Mediterranean whose population drops to around 200 in winter.
“We did not have cases, so this has to continue so that people here feel safe and so those who will come will be safe.”
Greece has so far vaccinated more than 208,000 people and is hoping a global rollout will allow holidaymakers to return in the summer and help save a tourist industry that accounts for about a fifth of its economy.
On Kastellorizo, local doctor Stavros Stavropoulos said around 80% of residents had been given a shot since the vaccination team arrived on the island three days ago, with people of all ages treated equally.
Despite a decade-long financial crisis that badly weakened its public health services, Greece has so far been a relative success story during the pandemic, with case rates and fatalities at a fraction of the levels seen in some of its more prosperous European neighbors.
But authorities are acutely aware that hospitals and intensive care units could not handle surging patient numbers, a concern that holds doubly true for dozens of small islands that at best have small medical centers to treat the sick.
“It’s really important, especially for the small islands that don’t have large hospitals for people to be treated, they have to be (vaccinated) so that they are protected when people come here for tourism,” Nikolaos Tachtzis, a nurse administering the shots on Kastellorizo said.
Greece rolls out vaccinations to island outposts ahead of summer
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Greece rolls out vaccinations to island outposts ahead of summer
- On Kastellorizo, local doctor Stavros Stavropoulos said around 80% of residents had been given a shot since the vaccination team arrived on the island three days ago
- Greece has so far been a relative success story during the pandemic, with case rates and fatalities at a fraction of the levels seen in some of its more prosperous European neighbors
Shooter kills 9 at Canadian school and residence
- The shooter was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound
- A total of 27 people were wounded in the shooting, including two with serious injuries
TORONTO: A shooter killed nine people and wounded dozens more at a secondary school and a residence in a remote part of western Canada on Tuesday, authorities said, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s history.
The suspect, described by police in an initial emergency alert as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
The attack occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies.
A total of 27 people were wounded in the shooting, including two with serious injuries, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the “horrific acts of violence” and announced he was suspending plans to travel to the Munich Security Conference on Wednesday, where he had been set to hold talks with allies on transatlantic defense readiness.
Police said an alert was issued about an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday afternoon.
As police searched the school, they found six people shot dead. A seventh person with a gunshot wound died en route to hospital.
Separately, police found two more bodies at a residence in the town.
The residence is “believed to be connected to the incident,” police said.
At the school, “an individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self?inflicted injury,” police said.
Police have not yet released any information about the age of the shooter or the victims.
“We are devastated by the loss of life and the profound impact this tragedy has had on families, students, staff, and our entire town,” the municipality of Tumbler Ridge said in a statement.
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told public broadcaster CBC that he was in his mechanics class when there was an announcement that the school was in lockdown.
He said that initially he “didn’t think anything was going on,” but started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage.
“It set in what was happening,” Quist said.
He said he stayed in lockdown for more than two hours until police stormed in, ordering everyone to put their hands up before escorting them out of the school.
Trent Ernst, a local journalist and a former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, expressed shock over the shooting at the school, where one of his children has just graduated.
He noted that school shootings have been a rarity occurring every few years in Canada compared with the United States, where they are far more frequent.
“I used to kind of go: ‘Look at Canada, look at who we are.’ But then that one school shooting every 2.5 years happens in your town and things... just go off the rails,” he told AFP.
‘Heartbreak’
While mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada, last April, a vehicle attack that targeted a Filipino cultural festival in Vancouver killed 11 people.
British Columbia Premier David Eby called the latest violence “unimaginable.”
Nina Krieger, British Columbia’s minister of public safety, said it was “one of the worst mass shootings in our province’s and country’s history.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee, whose athletes are competing in the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, said Wednesday it was “heartbroken by the news of the horrific school shooting.”
Ken Floyd, commander of the police’s northern district, said: “This has been an incredibly difficult and emotional day for our community, and we are grateful for the cooperation shown as officers continue their work to advance the investigation.”
Floyd told reporters the shooter was the same suspect police described as “female” in a prior emergency alert to community members, but declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity.
The police said officers were searching other homes and properties in the community to see if there were additional sites connected to the incident.
Tumbler Ridge, a quiet town with roughly 2,400 residents, is more than 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest city.
“There are no words sufficient for the heartbreak our community is experiencing tonight,” the municipality said.
