ATHENS — Teenagers aged from 15 to 17 will be able to book vaccination appointments as of Thursday, said Health Secretary General Marios Themistocleous during Monday’s regular live briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.

Appointments can be set by their parents using their taxis.net credentials, and they will also have to accompany the minors to inoculation centers, he added.

Next-day inoculation appointments for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available daily, while appointments for the Pfizer vaccine are available within three days, he noted.

A 41 pct of Greece’s population has completed their vaccination (over 9.3 million people), while 70 pct of those aged over 70 have completed the first dose of vaccination.

The course of upcoming coronavirus pandemic waves will largely depend on the transmission of its strains from the young to older adults, Maria Theodoridou, National Vaccination Committee chair noted at the briefing.

"Vaccination slows down and inhibits new mutations, and also reduces both the viral load and the virus' spread," she explained, adding that vaccination is highly recommended for first-year university students and students at large.

She noted that the first of two doses protects a person by 33 pct to 50 pct, while a completed vaccination protects them by 90 pct.

Thessaloniki coronavirus infections rise 250 pct in a week

Coronavirus infections in the municipality of Thessaloniki rose by 250% in a week, Mayor Constantinos Zervos told an online meeting of the city council on Monday.

"From the 113 active infections registered last Monday, today we have 324," he said.

Zervos said he was happy with the rate of vaccinations, however, which total 966,812. Of these, 450,000 are completed vaccinations.