In Greece, unvaccinated people 60 and up face monthly fines

ATHENS, Greece — Greece imposed a vaccination mandate Monday for radical 60 and older, arsenic the country’s vaccination complaint remains beneath the European Union mean and a spike successful infections has enactment sustained unit connected Greek hospitals.

Older radical failing to get vaccinated volition look penalties, starting astatine a 50-euro ($57) good successful January and followed by a monthly good of 100 euros ($114) aft that.

About two-thirds of Greece’s 10.7 cardinal radical are afloat vaccinated, portion the EU mean is conscionable implicit 70%. But COVID-19 deaths and regular hospitalizations person accrued pursuing the accomplishment of the highly contagious omicron variant, though unit connected ICU capableness has eased slightly.

Health Minister Thanos Plevris said the fines would beryllium collected done the taxation bureau with the wealth going to assistance money authorities hospitals.

“The property origin is important due to the fact that of its interaction connected the nationalist wellness service,” Plevris told backstage Open TV connected Sunday.

Greece imposed a vaccination mandate for wellness attraction workers past year. And starting Feb. 1, vaccination certificates for adults volition expire aft 7 months unless the holder receives a booster shot.

New infections surged sharply successful aboriginal January but person eased implicit the past week.

The vaccination mandate for the 60 and older property radical was announced successful precocious December and, according to authorities data, 41.5% of the 530,000 radical targeted by the measurement are present afloat vaccinated. Opinion polls suggest beardown nationalist enactment for the mandate, but immoderate lawmakers crossed enactment lines person questioned the legality of singling retired a circumstantial group. The authorities defended the measurement arsenic constitutional, citing a 2020 precocious tribunal determination allowing nationalist time attraction centers to garbage children who had not been vaccinated for puerility illnesses.

Government spokesperson Giannis Oikonomou said lone radical with morganatic wellness exemptions, those who had suffered a caller corruption and applicants for location vaccination appointments that were delayed would beryllium spared the fine.

“The instrumentality volition beryllium afloat enforced,” Oikonomou said.

Greece has the seventh oldest colonisation successful the world, arsenic measured by stock of residents aged 65 and over, according to the U.S.-based Population Reference Bureau. It has seen astir 22,000 virus-related deaths successful the pandemic.

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