ATHENS — The vaccination programme is the first time that the Greek state has approached citizens in this way, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said about the "Eleftheria" vaccination campaign, speaking on ANT1 television on Monday.

"With dignity, politeness, a smile, with love and a sense of responsibility by our healthcare staff for what they are doing. I am obligated to them for all their efforts and I think it has been many, many years since we saw the state respond this way," he said.

He noted that vaccination platform for ages 30 to 44 will open at the end of the month and for ages 18-29 by mid-June , reiterating that the second doses of the vaccines are guaranteed for those who got the first dose.

"Until mid-June and if Johnson & Johnson confirms its deliveries, which are due in June, we will vaccinate those aged between 18 and 29 as well. This means that by mid-June it will a univeral possibility to get vaccinated for all age groups and a concomitant responsibility for each of us to get vaccinated," Kikilias underlined.

He said that Greece has already bought 30 million vaccines and of those, a total of 3,650,000 vaccinations have been done so far. By the end of May a total of 5,400,000 citizens will have been vaccinated, of which 3,520,000 with the first dose and 1,940,000 with both doses, or 18 percent of the total population.