Greece to step up island vaccinations: PM

ATHENS: Greece is stepping up vaccinations against Covid-19 of its island residents ahead of a planned May 14 launch to its tourism season, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Tuesday.

"We are giving our islands priority... by opening up vaccination of their entire adult population earlier than the rest of Greece," he told regional governors via teleconference.

"The aim is to fully vaccinate permanent (island) residents by the end of June," Mitsotakis said.

Greece is keen to see crowds of holiday-makers flooding back to its idyllic islands, which are some of its most popular travel destinations.

To this end, the Greek tourism minister has toured key target markets such as the United States and Russia and is currently holding talks in Britain.

The United Kingdom has put Greece on its amber travel list for now, meaning British people returning home from Greece face at least five days in quarantine.

Tourism earns a as much as a quarter of Greece's annual income and Athens wants to persuade tour operators that the country is safe to visit.

Athens was one of the first European Union capitals, with Madrid, to back the idea of a vaccination certificate to enable mass travel to resume.

Under partial lockdown since November 7, Greece is still recording more than 2,000 Covid-19 infections daily, mostly in Athens, along with dozens of deaths. Hospitals remain under major strain.

But Greece has since early April been gradually reopening non-essential shops and cafe terraces in a bid to kickstart tourism.

Health officials have already vaccinated on a voluntary basis adults on 32 small Greek islands, and another 36 larger islands will complete the process in three weeks, the PM said.

The largest 19 islands are to follow, he said.

Nearly a month ago, Greece lifted a seven-day quarantine period for travellers from the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.