Marios Themistokleous

Fifty years after the founding of New Democracy by Konstantinos Karamanlis, the party, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, returns to its historic headquarters on Rigillis Street for a unity gathering that addresses all generations of the party.

A radical overhaul is underway in the country’s blood donation system—a restructuring that has been anticipated for two decades by all those involved in blood donation as well as those who need blood for their health needs. The relevant law has been passed since 2005 (N.3402/2005) and has been in effect since last May.

The first afternoon surgery will be held on March 12 at Papageorgiou Hospital in Thessaloniki, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said in an interview with Skai TV on Thursday.

A new digital filing system for hospitals' scheduled surgeries and their order of priority aimed at reducing patients' waiting time for operations in Greece, was launched on Thursday.

Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis requested from the country's hospital administrators to strictly adhere to the budgets for 2024 and improve citizens' experience of the country's health services by reducing their waiting time in emergency rooms and for surgeries

While the platform has already opened for people in high-risk groups to make an appointment for a third vax jab, the health ministry will announce which other groups may be eligible for a booster shot on Monday.

The health ministry is poised to open a platform for patients in high-risk groups to make appointments for a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in September.

With a spate of EU countries having suspended administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine due to inconclusive indications of a possible connection of the vaccine to thrombosis in a minuscule percentage of those who received the vaccine, Greece has said it will continue to use it in its ongoing rollout.

Greek health authorities have so far vaccinated more than 410,000 people in the country with at least the first dose, which corresponds to 3.9 percent of the population, a Health Ministry official said Monday.

Among healthcare staff, more than 73 percent of doctors have received the jab.

Greece's National Vaccination Committee has unanimously approved the vaccine against the coronavirus produced by pharmaceuticals firm AstraZeneca for those aged 64 and younger.

More specifically, vaccinations for the 60-64 age group will start sometime after February 12, it was announced on Friday.

The online registration platform will open in the coming days.