The platform for vaccination appointments for the 30-39 age group will open on April 27, ahead of schedule, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Wednesday, according to Athens News Agency.

“They will sign up one day and be vaccinated the next,” Kikilias explained, adding that if there is high demand, vaccinations could be administered by private-sector health centers and clinics in May.

Kikilias said that the vaccination appointments will be extended “to late evening appointments and over the weekends,” while he added that inoculations will take place up to Holy Saturday/Labor Day (May 1). They will not be carried out from May 2 (Greek Orthodox Easter) to May 4, he pointed out, which will not affect the rollout.

Responding to questions, he said that doctors requisitioned from the private sector are needed for at least another 20 days, and he reiterated the schedule of Easter services that have been scheduled to take place at an earlier time.

Asked to comment if visitors arriving as of May 15, when the country reopens to tourism, will be able to travel freely through several regions of Greece, he said they would have to observe restrictions imposed on Greeks that are in effect at the time. (In his live address earlier, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had said that the ban on traveling to other cities and prefectures would be lifted for the entire population on May 15.)

A total of 92 mental health professionals were hired during the first quarter of 2021 to support Covid-19 patients, their families, and medical staff, Deputy Health Minister Zoi Rapti said at the briefing.

She said they had been connected to 450 health centers and had helped 1,142 people in the first three months.

also read

TikTok faces legal challenge over allegedly collecting data of millions of teens