First batches of Novavax to arrive this month in Greece

Greece plans to start administering the Novavax protein vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in early March, General Secretary of Primary Healthcare Marios Themistokleous said Tuesday.

He announced that Greece is expected to receive 474,000 doses of this vaccine in February and March. The first batch of 168,000 shots are to arrive on February 21. The Novavax vaccine will become part of the country’s vaccination program from the beginning of March and will be distributed to specific vaccination centers.

It is administered in two doses and has not been prepared based on mRNA technology but on that of more traditional vaccines, such as influenza or tetanus shots, which may convince some skeptics to get inoculated.

Until Tuesday, more than 7,760,000 citizens (73.8% of the general population) had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine, while 7,330,000 had received two doses (69.8%). Moreover, 4,880,000 citizens had received a booster shot, while an additional 200,000 had scheduled appointments.

The number of people over 60 who are choosing to get vaccinated is also increasing, albeit at a slower pace. According to Themistokleous, from last Monday until Tuesday, 10,000 new appointments had been scheduled by people in that age group.