Greek Opposition Criticizes Mandatory Vaccination For People Over 60 In Country

The Greek leftist opposition have criticized the decision by the country's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to introduce mandatory vaccination for people over 60, claiming that the politician is shifting responsibility for the health disaster to citizens

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th November, 2021) The Greek leftist opposition have criticized the decision by the country's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to introduce mandatory vaccination for people over 60, claiming that the politician is shifting responsibility for the health disaster to citizens.

On Tuesday, the prime minister announced that COVID-19 vaccination will become mandatory in Greece for people over 60 starting January 16, and that the government will punish noncompliance with a monthly 100 Euros ($113.6) fine. Mitsotakis noted that the decision is not a punishment, but the price of health.

"Guilty of the health disaster, in complete panic over the collapse of the national health system and sad European primacy in deaths and infections, (Mitsotakis), instead of taking responsibility, shifts it to the citizens. This time he is targeting people over 60, and instead of announcing health support measures, encouraging vaccinations and tightening measures of sanitary protection, he is announcing punishment and financial extermination that have not been applied in any other country in the world," the largest opposition party in the country, SYRIZA, the Coalition of the Radical Left - Progressive Alliance, said in a statement.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) also stressed that the Greek authorities left the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic to the personal responsibility of the country's citizens from the beginning.

"Today, he goes even further, introducing a 'line of responsibility' with punishment - forcing unvaccinated people over 60 to pay a fine of 100 euros per month, again without taking any actions, even to organize a vaccination program," the KKE said in a statement.

The party added that timely mass vaccination is needed, but not as the singular way to fight the spread of the disease.

The center-left Movement for Change (KINAL) also stated that Mitsotakis should have started with the state itself before introducing mandatory vaccination for certain age groups.

The number of registered COVID-19 cases in Greece for the entire period of the pandemic is estimated to be over 938,000, with 18,157 deaths. The daily number of coronavirus cases is currently at record highs, with around 7,000 new cases daily throughout most of November.

Greece has administered at least 14,144,357 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which is about 66% of the country's population.