The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsutakis, announced today that starting in January, vaccination will start for all Greek citizens aged 60 and over and those who are not vaccinated will be fined 100 euros a month until they are vaccinated.
The prime minister said he had waited a long time for the decision to be made but came to the conclusion that there was no escape from it.
"This is the price we have to pay for public health. We focus all our efforts on protecting our citizens and for that reason vaccinations will be mandatory," Mitsotakis said.
"I am tormented by this decision, it torments me, but I feel after it will be unbearably heavy for the health of the weakest in our society, even if the decision will cause them temporary discomfort," the Greek prime minister said.
The decision was harshly criticized by the opposition, with the Cirza party accusing the government of taking inappropriate punitive measures for the population refusing to be vaccinated.
"Such a thing has not been done anywhere," the party said in a statement.
Protest of vaccine opponents in Vienna, Austria, Photo: AFP
In Austria, the government is preparing for much tougher measures than those announced by Greece.
A bill that has the support of the government and the opposition will require, starting in February, all citizens of the country will be required to get vaccinated, and those who do not get vaccinated will be fined 7,200 euros.
The law will apply to all residents of Austria including foreign students and permanent residents.
Those who will be exempt from the law will be those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
The wording of the law, which is expected to be debated in the Austrian parliament, was published by the Austrian newspaper Di Peres.
Austria has been in a tight Corona closure for more than a week and restaurants, cafes and businesses that have been declared non-essential have been closed.
Since the closure, morbidity in the country has been declining significantly.
The number of infections per 100,000 residents dropped to 936 this week after reaching more than 1,200 about two weeks ago.
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