No change in AstraZeneca vaccinations - 30-34 age group to start on appointments on Sat.
Over 102,000 appointments were set online by 51,000 people on Wednesday, the day the platform for appointments opened to the 35-39 age group, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said during a regular briefing.
As of Saturday, appointments will be made available to the 30-34 age group, he added. "On a rolling average, Greece is third among the 27 EU states in the rate of vaccinations per 100,000 people," Kikilias said.
The median age of confirmed coronavirus infections in the last 7 days is 37, he noted, but the active infections keep dropping.
Speaking at the briefing also, National Vaccination Committee chair Maria Theodoridou said the committee decided vaccinations with AstraZeneca would continue. Women under 50, the age group affected mostly by rare side effects of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), can receive with vaccines of other manufacturers, she said. A total of 5 such incidents have been registered in Greece so far, she noted: four women aged 36, 44, 47 and 61 and one man aged 35. One woman died, one recovered, and three are still in hospital, she said.
She also said that it is recommended that those who received the first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine continue with the same in the second one as well. Among other reasons, TTS is extremely rare after the second dose - in Britain, among 9 million doses, only 5 incidents were recorded, she said.
