Greek healthcare personnel protest against mandatory Covid vaccines

Athens, Aug 26 (EFE).- Healthcare workers at public hospitals in Greece on Thursday held a five-hour strike to protest against compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations.

The government in Athens had ordered in July that doctors and all health workers in the public and private sectors must be inoculated by September 1. Those who refuse will be suspended from duty.

The protests, called by the Public Hospital Workers Federation (Poedin), saw thousands of people taking to the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki, among other cities across the country.

People chanted “Yes to vaccination, no to obligation” and “No to suspending contracts” while marching from the health ministry to the parliament in Athens’ central Syntagma Square.

Michalis Giannakos, Poedin’s head, said that 79% of the healthcare workers in the public sector have already been vaccinated and another 11% have recovered from the virus.

Those refusing to take the vaccine must be convinced, instead of getting their contracts suspended, added Giannakos during an interview with the Greek SKAI TV.

Some 59% of the country’s population have taken one vaccine dose, while 56% have already been fully vaccinated.

Since the start of the pandemic, Greece has registered 570,077 infections and 13,509 deaths linked to Covid-19. EFE

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