Health sciences

Prime Minister Florin Citu has announced having approved on Tuesday the submission to the European Commission of a request for Romania to get an extra 8 million doses of BioNTech / Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine out of 200 million additionally negotiated at European level.

Despite widespread vaccination campaigns, herd immunity to the coronavirus will not be achieved this year, the WHO's top scientist has said. Until then, preventive measures such as masks will be necessary.

The European Union's target to have secured enough vaccinations against the novel coronavirus to inoculate every citizen in the bloc by the end of 2021 is within reach, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides told Kathimerini in Brussels on Monday.

Turkey is planning to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines by this weekend, probably on Jan. 14 or Jan. 15, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, adding that coronavirus-related restrictions will be eased gradually when the infection numbers fall under a certain number.

Greece launched an online platform on Monday for people to register for vaccinations as authorities prepare to begin rolling out Covid-19 shots for the general public after a first phase of inoculating top priority groups.

According to the latest report of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

Η χώρα έχει προμηθευτεί 3 εκατ. δόσεις του κινεζικού εμβολίου CoronaVac της Sinovac

Greek health authorities have vaccinated 49,661 people with the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 jab since the country received its first batch on December 27, according to a health ministry official on Monday.

Speaking at the daily press conference on developments with the pandemic, Marios Themistokleous said the number corresponds to 0,46% of the Greek population.

Coordinator of Romania's national COVID-19 vaccination campaign Valeriu Gheorghita told AGERPRES on Monday that the first batch of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in Romania on Wednesday. According to the military doctor, it is about 14,000 doses of vaccine. "On Wednesday about 14,000 doses of the first batch arrive.

Japanese health officials have claimed the new variant of the coronavirus discovered in their country has similarities to that of the highly-contagious strains in the UK and South Africa. The new strain was detected on passengers who had disembarked from a plane that had arrived from Brazil.