ATHENS – At the same time the New Democracy government is moving toward ending health measures against the waning COVID-19 pandemic, a fourth vaccination shot may be required for those over 65 years old.

There are still several dozen deaths a day but cases and hospitalizations, as well as patients on ventilators in public hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are declining.

Still, a decision on a fourth shot, which would be a second booster for the elderly and those with multiple or underlying conditions will be made in April, said Kathimerini.

Contradicting what could be a lifting of health restrictions, the government’s advisory panel of doctors and scientists may also recommend another round shots for the vaccinated in September.

But rabid anti-vaxxers who refused to be inoculated would be rewarded despite that if the measures are lifted, which could see them allowed in public gathering spots from which they’ve allegedly been barred, no report on whether anyone is checking on that.

The National Vaccination Committee is collecting evidence on the effectiveness of a fourth dose on elderly and high-risk people, the report said, adding that a member of the panel, Vana Papaevangelou, said a decision is coming in early April.

That will be to await a decision from the United States Food and Drug Administration on a request by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer for authorization for fourth shots being allowed.

While life in Greece, the US and would is returning to near-normal – masks are largely being shunned, social distancing has been forgotten – health experts nevertheless said that the general population may need a fourth shot.

“It won’t be a fourth dose, but a new cycle of inoculation or annual vaccination,” Democritus University professor of pharmacology Vangelis Manolopoulos told the paper, indicating that COVID may never go away.