Clinical trials

A total of 471 people had been vaccinated in Greece by Monday afternoon with the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech which arrived in the country on December 25, and one person developed a minor allergic reaction, senior Health Ministry official Marios Themistokleous told journalists on Monday.

Themistokleous said he got the jab himself earlier in the day.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias received a Covid-19 vaccine at the capital's Evangelismos Hospital on Monday.

"The vaccine is freedom," he said, urging the public to get vaccinated "so that we can get our lives back."

The distribution of an initial 200 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech across the European Union will be completed by September, a spokesman for the EU Commission said on Monday.

Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios receives an injection with a dose of Covid-19 vaccine, at Evangelismos hospital, in Athens, Sunday.

A swath of EU nations begin vaccinating their most vulnerable groups on Dec. 27 as a reputedly more contagious coronavirus variant spread internationally and the WHO warned that the current pandemic would not be the last.

Turkey targets to complete the vaccination of between 30 million to 35 million people by March in a massive inoculation drive, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said, adding that this will provide "a significant relief" in the country's fight against the outbreak.

The release of the vaccine, its delivery and distribution in record time will help limit and eradicate the pandemic in the shortest possible time, Prime Minister Florin Citu said on Saturday. "Today [Saturday - editor's note] we received the first doses of the vaccine. The vaccination campaign starts at the same time in Romania as in Europe.

He added that twice as many doses are expected in February.
Kon stated that Serbia expected 340.000 doses of the vaccine in the first quarter, including Chinese and Russian vaccines, but that around 290.000 doses would actually be delivered, because Pfizer fails to deliver all the required quantities.

A special plan with the assistance of anti-terrorist units and the participation of more than 4,000 police officers has been drafted by the Hellenic Police (ELAS), under the instructions of the Civil Protection Ministry, for the storage of the coronavirus vaccines.

"Not only will we provide transport but we will also pay for this donation. One vaccine has so far been approved by the European regulator, Pfizer vaccine, distribution across the EU follows. We are working to make it available to the most vulnerable groups, and this is also the case of Serbia", Fabrizi told N1.