ATHENS: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday criticized the slow pace of the EU’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but said Greece would double its inoculation rate in coming weeks and give everyone aged over 60 their first shot by the end of May.
Greece, which coped relatively well during the first wave of the pandemic last year, has tightened restrictions to combat a surge in cases over recent months, with hospitalizations having risen to around 5,000, leaving the health system struggling to cope.
Mitsotakis said bloc-wide purchasing of vaccines by the European Commission had helped smaller European Union states such as Greece.
“But at the same time it failed in getting the necessary quantities and supplying member states promptly,” he said in a speech to parliament.
With the summer tourist season fast approaching, vital for Greece’s economy, the government is counting on a beefed-up testing campaign, including home test kits which health authorities said would start to be distributed to high school students and teachers from next week.
Schools, non-essential shops and restaurants are closed, but authorities plan to allow small retail shops to reopen next week with restrictions and high schools are expected to resume in-person classes later this month.
Greece, with a population of around 11 million, has administered nearly 1.7 million COVID shots so far and will complete another 1.5 million by the end of April. Everyone over 60 should have had at least one shot by the end of May, Mitsotakis said.
He also backed a European Commission call to “use all the legal tools,” including banning exports, to force manufacturers to respect their contractual obligations toward the EU in terms of vaccines supplies.
The Commission has been engaged in a heated row with Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, which has delivered only a fraction of the vaccines ordered on time.
Greece to step up vaccination rate, says PM; criticizes slow EU rollout
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Greece to step up vaccination rate, says PM; criticizes slow EU rollout
- Greece, with a population of around 11 million, has administered nearly 1.7 million COVID shots so far and will complete another 1.5 million by the end of April
- Mitsotakis backed a European Commission call to “use all the legal tools” to force manufacturers to respect their contractual obligations toward the EU in terms of vaccine supplies
Putin says developing Russia’s nuclear forces ‘absolute priority’
- Putin vowed to keep “strengthening the army and navy” and draw on military experience from the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that developing Russia’s nuclear forces was now an “absolute priority” following the expiry of its last remaining nuclear treaty with the US.
“The development of the nuclear triad, which guarantees Russia’s security and ensures effective strategic deterrence and a balance of forces in the world, remains an absolute priority,” Putin said in a video message.
His speech came on Russia’s “Defender of the Fatherland Day,” a holiday that is an occasion for military pomp and Kremlin-sponsored patriotism.
Putin vowed to keep “strengthening the army and navy” and draw on military experience from the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine.
All branches of the armed forces would be improved, he said, including their “combat readiness, their mobility, and their ability to operate in all conditions, even the most difficult.”
Putin’s remarks came just two days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s assault on Ukraine that sparked a war that has shattered towns, uprooted millions and killed large numbers on both sides.
Moscow and Washington — the world’s two main nuclear powers — are no longer bound by any arms control pact since the New START agreement expired earlier this month.
But Russia said it would continue taking a “responsible” approach to strategic nuclear capability and respecting the limits set on its arsenal.
