ATHENS – After Greece’s National Vaccinations Committee reduced from six to three months the time after which booster shots could be given for COVID-19, there was a rush to make appointments.

Some 193,000 people registered for the auxiliary shot, a third for most versions of the vaccine, as the New Democracy government is scrambling to deal with a resurgence of the pandemic but won’t require mandatory shots for all.

Data from the Ministry of Digital Governance showed keen interest in signing up online for the boosters at the same time there are restrictions on where the unvaccinated can go and people over 60 must by Jan. 16, 2022 make shot appointments or face 100 euro ($113.14) monthly fines from their benefits.

Despite that warning and rising number of cases, hospitalizations, people on ventilators in public hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and deaths, only 8,300 appoinments were made for a first shot in a 24-hour period from Dec. 3-4, said Kathimerini.