ATHENS — Greece is "in a much better position than almost all European countries" with regard to the pandemic, State Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said on Tuesday in an interview with 'Thema 104.6' radio station, explaining why Greece was able to ease restrictive measures when the rest of Europe was moving in the opposite direction.

At the same time, the vaccination programme is continuing, he said. Regarding the prime minister's proposal for the vaccination certificate, he stated that "it is now being widely discussed in the European Union," while it will be discussed the day after tomorrow in the European Council.

Explaining how it was that Greece is re-opening its economy at a time when additional restrictive measures are imposed in the rest of Europe, the Minister of State first pointed out that "Greece had the most extensive universal ban, the Greek lockdown had a greater intensity and duration compared with European lockdowns. This has resulted in us being in a much better position today than almost all European countries."

Of course, he added, "no blanket ban can exist indefinitely," while there is no model that will predict what will happen in the future, he said noting that "the careful opening has not so far had any impact on the health data."