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
Cuba says a 5th person died after people on a Florida-flagged speedboat opened fire on soldiers
- Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops
- The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities
HAVANA: Cuba said a fifth person has died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island nation’s north coast.
The island’s interior ministry said late Thursday in a statement that Roberto Álvarez Ávila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries. It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialized medical care according to their health status.”
Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops. They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.
“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban interior ministry said in its statement, adding that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the US”
Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects that were on the speedboat. The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.
Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast. They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.
The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities. The island’s economy was until recently largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a US military operation deposed then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
