Covid-19 Deaths Continue to Drop in Greece

Greece’s health authorities (EODY) announced on Thursday 1,905 new cases of Covid-19, only three of which involved tourists tested upon arrival.

Greece has confirmed 396,970 infections from the start of the pandemic (daily change: +0.5 percent). In the confirmed cases of the last 7 days, 24 infections are related to travel from abroad and 2,013 to other confirmed cases.

There are also 39 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of Covid-19 victims in Greece to 11,955. Of these, 95.1 percent had an underlying condition and/or were 70 years old.

A total of 540 patients are on ventilators in hospitals. Their median age is 67 years and 85.2 percent have an underlying condition and/or are aged 70 or more. Another 2,401 have been discharged from ICUs since the pandemic began.

In addition, 206 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours (daily change of a -17.6 percent). The average admission of patients with Covid-19 to hospitals over the last 7 days was 231.

The median age of new infections in Greece is 44 years, while the median age of the deceased is 78.

Administration of AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19

The National Vaccination Committee said on Wednesday that the Greece’s inoculation program against Covid-19 is moving ahead.

It added that there will be no changes to the age limits for the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, noting also that the risk of thrombosis is higher in women under the age of 50.

“The committee notes that the estimated risk of developing thrombocytopenic syndrome (TTS) after administration of this vaccine is higher in women under 50 years of age,” said the president of the National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodoridou.

After taking into account the epidemiological data and the current spread of the virus, the committee decided to recommend the continuation of the vaccinations against Covid-19 according to the current program.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said the platform for scheduling appointments for all vaccines for the 30-34 age group opens on Saturday, as did the one on Wednesday for people aged between 35 and 39.

Moreover, the guideline is for both doses to be the same vaccine, except in cases of thromboembolic incidents after the first. Theodoridou noted that the appearance of TTS syndrome is even rarer after the second dose. Tellingly, in the United Kingdom only 15 cases were recorded out of a total of 9 million second doses.

As for Greece, she said that to date, out of a total of 905,915 vaccinations, five cases of the syndrome have been recorded after the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine.