Cowpox

Europe's medicines regulator on Monday approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by U.S. company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, putting Europe on course to start inoculations within a week.

Europe's medicines regulator on Monday approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by U.S. company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, putting Europe on course to start inoculations within a week.

The first anti-coronavirus jabs are expected to reach Greece on December 26 and the first vaccinations to take place the following day.

Symbolically, a nurse and an elderly person have been chosen to be the first ones to be vaccinated.

The inoculation of doctors and medical staff at Sotiria Hospital in Athens will begin on December 27, Mina Gaga, director of the hospital's 7th pulmonary clinic, told Skai radio on Friday.

Gaga said all hospital workers have said they will have the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

"It is the only way to ensure everyone is protected," she said.

European nations vowed on Dec. 16 to get their coronavirus vaccination campaigns rolling before the end of the year while a surge in infections prompted tighter restrictions across several countries.

Germany will begin vaccinations on December 27, its health minister said, detailing a timeline expected to be mirrored across the European Union's 27 member states.

No matter that the state organizes vaccination campaign, the choice is voluntary. Even if some private company - an airline, for example, asks for a vaccination certificate, the state will not introduce a mandatory Coronavirus inoculation.

Vaccines do not protect against infection, but they can protect us from severe complications caused by the virus and perhaps death, told Bulgaria ON AIR Director of the Bulgarian Cardiac Institute Prof.Vladimir Danov.

Coronavirus vaccines will drastically change our lives for the better, but not overnight, and will provide protection for a long time, according to the consensus among nine Greek scientists working abroad and contacted by Kathimerini.

What the "new normal" for 2021 will be globally, will depend on the number of inoculations over a short period of time, they say.

Two health experts sought to assure the public of the safety of the novel coronavirus jab and encourage participation in the national vaccination campaign on Friday, as Greece and other European countries await the green light from the bloc's health authorities to start rolling out the program.

President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that the intention to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus exists "to a very high degree" among Romania's healthcare workers. "It is very, very important to know that these types of vaccines that are now being approved are safe; they are effective; they measure up to the highest European standards, and that is very important news for Romanians.