Greece on Monday imposed a vaccination order for people over 60, in a country with an immunization rate below the European Union average and where a spike in infections has kept pressure on hospitals.
Seniors who don’t get vaccinated will be fined, starting at 50 euros ($57) in January before moving to a monthly penalty of 100 euros ($114).
Some two-thirds of Greece’s 10.7 million people have completed their vaccination, while the EU average is just over 70%. The rate of deaths and daily hospitalizations has grown due to the expansion of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, although the occupation in Intensive Care Units has decreased somewhat.
The fines will be collected through the tax office and the money will be used to help finance state hospitals, the health minister said. Thanos Plevris.
“The age factor is important due to its impact on the public health service”, Plevris told private Open television on Sunday.
Last year, a vaccination order was imposed for health personnel. As of February 1, adult vaccination certificates will expire after seven months if the person does not receive a booster dose.
New infections spiked in early January and have subsided in the last week.
The order for those over 60 was announced at the end of December and, according to government data, around 41.5% of the 530,000 people targeted by the measure have already completed their vaccination.
Greece it has the seventh-oldest population in the world, as counted by the proportion of residents age 65 and older, according to the US-based Population Reference Bureau.
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