The mass vaccination of Greece’s government officials who take the place of health workers and vulnerable groups has reached the dimensions of a scandal. The mass vaccination of front-line health workers at Sotiria hospital in Athens, the flagship in the country’s battle against the virus since March, scheduled for today, Tuesday, was cancelled with “orders from above.” At the same time, well-known politicians want also priority in the vaccination program.
Sotiria scandal
The secretary of the Greek Federation of Hospital Doctors (OGNE), Panos Papanikolaou, denounced on Tuesday morning that the mass vaccination of dozens of doctors and nurses at the Sotiria hospital was cancelled with “orders from above” and that an equal number of ministers and entourage rushed to the hospital to get inoculated.
Σήμερα 29/12 στο "Σωτηρία" (υποτίθεται ναυαρχίδα της χώρας στην μάχη ενάντια στην επιδημία από τον Μάρτιο) με άνωθεν εντολή ΑΝΑΒΛΗΘΗΚΕ ο προγραμματισμένος εμβολιασμός δεκάδων υγειονομικών και στην θέση τους εμβολιάστηκαν ισάριθμοι υπουργοί και παρατρεχάμενοι.
ΝΤΡΟΠΗ @Vkikilias— P.G. Papanikolaou (@PGPapanikolaou) December 29, 2020
Speaking to Real FM, Papanikolaou said that the scheduled vaccination of Sotiria health workers was postponed in order to have politicians receive the vaccine.
“Various luxury cars brought officials to the hospital, they stated that they are still members of the Cabinet and got vaccinated,” Papanikolaou, who is a neurosurgeon at Nikaia hospital said.
He said that according to the complained that reached the OGNE, “at least 20 officials” received the vaccine in Sotiria. On social media, users wrote that also the “vaccination of Sotiria health workers scheduled for Wednesday was postponed.”
According to latest information obtained by news website news24/7, a total of 70 vaccine doses were secured for Sotiria hospital and there were 54 scheduled appointments for the health-workers vaccination. “Out of a sudden, the hospital management said that 21 members of the cabinet are coming and therefore the vaccination to equal number of health personnel was cancelled.”
Stressing that “the issue is very serious,” Papanikolaou underlined that the political leadership of the Health Ministry should respond immediately.
The leadership should explain to what extend and why “a deputy minister aged 40-45 without underlying health problems has vaccination priority over a doctor or a nurse who has been working at the Covid-designated hospital of Sotiria.”
Tuesday afternoon and there is no official statement by the Greek Health Ministry.
The OGNE secretary is not the only one who demanded official response about the issue.
Outrage broke out on social media not only because of OGNE’s denouncement. See here comments on Twitter.
MPs should get priority vaccination
In a typical Greek elitist mentality, Dora Bakoyannis from the well-known Mitsotakis family, New Democracy MP, sister of the Prime Minister and mother of Athens Mayor, claimed on Tuesday morning that all 300 members of the Parliament should get priority vaccination.
She made made her statement on Skai TV and also posted them on her Twitter account.
She argued that due to the pandemic the Parliament cannot function properly and that “the sooner the MPs get vaccinated, the sooner the Parliament will return to its right operation.”
Θεσμικά, η λειτουργία της Βουλής, ως ένα βαθμό περιορίστηκε στην καραντίνα. Συνεπώς, όσο πιο γρήγορα εμβολιαστεί η Βουλή, τόσο πιο γρήγορα θα επανέλθουμε στη σωστή λειτουργία της, με την παρουσία όλων των βουλευτών στο νομοθετικό έργο. #Skai
— Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη (@Dora_Bakoyannis) December 29, 2020
Bakoyannis completely forgot to mention that while MPs keep receiving their full salary while they stay at home doing nothing, millions of business owners and workers look at the ruins of their existence, waiting to survive and feed their families on the bag of peanuts given by the government as a compensation for suspended business activities during the two lockdowns.
Several twitter users told her to “be ashamed” and some asked her why she thinks that lawmakers should have priority over “heroes doctors and nurses.”
Govt’s priority vaccination
Ministers irrelevant with the health sector, deputy ministers, state ministers and general secretaries, the head of General Staff and other officials, a total of at least 45 people, lined up to the precious vaccine that apparently private money can’t buy claiming that the Greek state would go down if one of them would fall ill due to Covid-19.
It is the only EU country where next to President or the Prime Minister, ministers, deputies, opposition party leaders, officials unknown even to their doorman ‘symbolically’ got the shot, many of them in front of the cameras of the cameras under the pretext of persuading large parts of Greek citizens that the vaccine was safe.
Note that in Germany government officials are on the 5. category (low risk) of vaccination program after health-workers, residents of facilities incl their caregivers, high risk groups etc etc.
Still on Monday, the President of the National Vaccination Committee Maria Theodoridou said that they keep the priority list based on international standards.
Top priority group are those with high risk due to age, second the health-workers, third the vulnerable groups in facilities, chronic ill. “Officials essential for the state mechanism operation are the last group,” Theodoridou said.
The vaccination of state officials was supposed to take place Dec 27-Jan 10. So the first batch of 45 officials wnet today, the second will grab the place of health-workers tomorrow?
Meanwhile, there are rumors that health-workers’ vaccination was cancellation also in Evangelismos hospital in Athens, for the same reason.
PS I wouldn’t wonder if Greece’s nomenclatura that is fed with favoritism and nepotism including civil servants, all those who believe that they own the country would soon claim “vaccination top priority” otherwise the state, the country and why not, even the EU would collapse.
This is a true SCANDAL! It is like the captain of the ship Costa Concordia, who sank in Italy, he was the first to leave the ship and got condemned to prison for it! I wonder if anything will happen to these “elite” people? A country with democracy (or not?) Every day I read KTG and learn something about greek society and all is not good, thats for sure. Could not imagine something like this would happen in Greece!
Shame (again) on the egoists who are supposed to represent their voters! Let’s hope that the vaccine will appear to have bad (side)effect in the longer run…. Then those political hooligans and money grabbers will be the first ones to get what they deserve.
This makes me so mad, I want to scream. It’s hearing things like this that makes me question whether Greece will ever really be a part of the EU, not just on paper. The sister of the prime minister and mother of the mayor of Athens…says it all. The prime minister should be ashamed of himself. I started out liking him, but it’s more and more apparent that he doesn’t really care about the Greek people.
Oh dear ,oh dear .
Me me me syndrome !
So selfish
Why am I not surprised ? The rich and “elite” usually get the first grab of everything. I really hope that Tsipras and the rest of the opposition MP’s set an example and refuse to clamour for the jab