Approaching the target set for vaccination with the 1st dose of 65% of the population that can be vaccinated within June, by June 9, the shield with the 1st dose reached 57.6% and the percentage of the population that completed the vaccination of its figure amounts to 37.9%.
With the COVID-19 vaccination plan evolving on a planned basis, appointment scheduling through the Vaccination Portal continues this week. Specifically, until 5:30 this afternoon, people aged 18-22 have priority for making an appointment. Tomorrow, at 7:30 am until Saturday, at 5:30 am, the Vaccination Portal will be available for people aged 40 and over who have not scheduled their vaccination yet. In the planning of the Ministry of Health for the next weeks is the opening of the Vaccination Portal initially for the ages 18-39 and then for all the beneficiaries over 18 years.
As new strains of the virus have been shown to be much more contagious, prevention of their prevalence within the community is achieved through vaccination in the wider community. The aim is to create immunity in the population, which will offer protection and will allow the return to a more functional normalcy by removing more restrictions and with greater security.
Already in our country the positive results from the vaccination coverage are visible and have brought a significant improvement in the epidemiological data in recent weeks. At the ages when the vaccination coverage is at a very advanced rate, according to the national reports, there is a significant decrease in the number of cases and the percentage of positivity. The percentage of positivity in nursing homes is below 0.1%, as a result of the timely vaccination of the elderly living in these areas.
On the positive side of the vaccination, there is a decrease in hospital admissions, especially of older people. As can be seen from the data, the vaccinated persons, even with the first dose, in case of infection, are asymptomatic or show very mild symptoms and, therefore, do not need hospitalization and the Health System is not burdened.
The benefits of vaccination are manifold at the stage of the effort to tackle the pandemic. The fact that vaccination coverage is increasing has contributed to the improvement of epidemiological indicators and has allowed the removal of most restrictive measures and the gradual and safe resumption of economic and social activity. With the response and confidence shown by the majority of the population in the vaccination program, among other things, places such as nightclubs were reopened, which remained closed for more than 15 months, restaurants were reopened and children's activities resumed.
Consequently, the declining course of epidemiological indicators has led to the ranking of our country in the Orange Category of the ECDC, which will bring benefits to various aspects of the economy, with an emphasis on tourism.
The universal commitment of society to the observance of personal protection measures and the positive response of citizens to the call for vaccination is the key to overcoming the pandemic.
