Vaccination against the coronavirus began in Greece, as well as most EU countries, on Sunday.
The first Greek to be vaccinated was Efstathia Kambissiouli, head nurse of the intensive care units at Athens’ Evangelismos hospital.
“In my person, all health professionals are being honored and [it] is a recognition of our work and our contribution. I hope a new page is turned on today, but we got a lot of way to go, we must adhere to measures and hold fast to our goal and when we are all vaccinated we can take our lives back,” Kambissiouli said after her vaccination.
“I felt great, I have no fear and no doubt. I have been vaccinated many times in my life,” she added.
Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, was also vaccinated against the coronavirus on Sunday afternoon, followed by Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at 2.30 pm at Attikon hospital, in western Athens.
“This is a great day for science and the European Union, which distributed the vaccines simultaneously to all members…We [officials] are being vaccinated first to show the vaccine is safe and effective…We hope that, with time, even those of our fellow citizens who are suspicious of vaccination will be convinced it is the right thing to do,” Mitsotakis said.
Mitsotakis and Sakellaropoulou are the first of 45 state officials whose vaccination was given priority to keep the machinery of state operating smoothly.
