Amendment introducing mandatory vaccination for over-60s tabled in parliament

The amendment stipulated that every person born before or on December 31, 1961 who is a resident of Greece is required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 "for imperative reasons of protection of public health" before January 16.

Effectively, this means that every person over 60 years old in the country is required to be fully jabbed by January 15, 2022. The only exemptions are for people who have either recently recovered from Covid-19, for a period of up to 180 days from diagnosis, and those that have proven health reasons why they cannot get vaccinated.

For persons in that age group that fail to get vaccinated within the time allowed, the government has legislated for an administrative fine of 100 euros for every month that they remain unvaccinated. For January only, those that get a first dose of a vaccine by January 15 and complete the vaccination within the allotted time, the fine will be halved to 50 euros. If the first dose is received on or after January 16, the full fine will be imposed.

The fines will stop being collected on the first day of the month following that in which a first vaccine dose was received while all fines will be automatically collected by the Independent Authority for Public Revenues (AADE) using a method that fully protects personal privacy.

The sums raised in fines will be used only to bolster the national health system as part of the effort to manage the pandemic.

The amendment also stipulates that the time when the measures cease to be in force are to be decided by the health minister, based on epidemiological data.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to address parliament and discuss the mandatory vaccination measures at 13:30 on Wednesday, during the debate on the health ministry bill.