Operation Eleftheria: How Greeks will get the coronavirus vaccination - When will it start

During his speech in Parliament, the Prime Minister stressed that the primary goal is to get the vaccine "free" and safely to all parts of the country and for every citizen. He even spoke of a "complex exercise" and made special reference to the 1,018 vaccination centers and the 65 mobile units that will be used to vaccinate for the coronavirus.

It is an exercise that the Minister of Digital Government described as "perhaps the largest supply chain exercise since World War II".

When is the vaccine approved and when do the vaccinations start?
According to Ursula von der Leyen, after the pressure from the Europeans, the vaccine is expected to be approved next week. The European Medicines Agency will meet on 21 December, one week earlier than planned, to decide whether to get the Pfizer vaccine "OK", so that the process of giving it to European citizens can begin immediately.

This means that from Christmas, if the approval is given, the vaccinations can start, with Germany estimating that this will probably happen on December 26.

Besides, the Prime Minister noted from Parliament yesterday that "maybe the European Organization will give the approval a week earlier, so we must be ready for this exercise".

As is well known, the vaccine will arrive in all EU countries on the same day, after the approval of Coreper, and then each country will start the vaccination, depending on its planning.

Mitsotakis: Operation Eleftheria will free us from the pandemic
The Prime Minister referred to the campaign that the government will start for the coronavirus vaccination, calling the operation "Eleftheria" (Freedom).

"Vaccination marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Our freedom and that is why we will call this operation thus. The freedom to live free from being hostages of the pandemic, to take back our lives, and to celebrate in 2021 the 200 years of our freedom as a nation. It is up to us to get the vaccine tomorrow. "The optimistic next day is really in our hands and I call on you to build it with unity," he said characteristically.

Mr. Mitsotakis noted that the government will launch a communication campaign, where it will utilize everyone, referring to the pharmacists, who will also help in closing the appointments for the vaccination. "We will succeed. But the threat will lurk until 60% of the population is vaccinated and that is why the commitment to the measures should continue. "We will wear a mask during the vaccine and we will wear a mask after the vaccine," he said characteristically.

As emphasized by the Ministry of Health, in the first phase the people of the Health System and the vulnerable groups will be vaccinated, while in the third phase, after February, the vaccinations will start for the rest of the citizens. In the first phase, pregnant women and minor children are not expected to be vaccinated, but also those who have already been diagnosed with coronavirus, as Professor Vana Papaevangelou stressed on Monday.

As it is already known, the appointment will be made through intangible prescribing, with the citizens receiving an SMS regarding the date of the appointment where they will have to accept or reject it and look for a new date.