Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated his promise to citizens that, should the vaccine pass stage four trials, it will arrive in Greece at the end of 2020.
Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias came under fire yesterday for guaranteeing an ‘impossible promise’, yet the Greek PM has backed the health minister’s observations on the scheduled date for the vaccine in Greece and other EU states.
“Greece participates in the agreement for the pre-emption of the vaccine against the coronavirus and will receive it share according to the agreement between EU and the pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca if the under development vaccine passes successfully the necessary trials,” the Prime Minister said on Wednesday.
“The best scenario is the vaccine to arrive in Greece at the end of 2020,” Mitsotakis added.
While the Greek leaders optimism was received well by citizens, a spokeswoman of the European Commission put the breaks on their celebrations, saying “we cannot give an exact date for the vaccines.”
Spokesperson Vivian Loonela was responding to a relevant question by a Greek correspondent in Brussels.
“The EU strategy is to have the vaccines as soon as possible, but also with the biggest possible security,” she added.
An opposition party member for SYRIZA accused Minister Kikilias of making false claims saying that “he announced the purchase of a vaccine that does not exist yet.”
The left-wing opposition also accused the government of “playing with the public anxiety” through “cheap government-generated populism that is both unacceptable and dangerous.”
