ATHENS — "Τhe government turned the vaccine into an alibi for not taking the necessary measures to support the public health system and to stop the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces and on public transport," stated main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance spokesperson Nassos Iliopoulos on Tuesday, speaking to SKAI TV.

Commenting on the huge pressure that the national health system has come under in recent days, he said that the government should finally follow the example of other countries and proceed with a true requisitioning of private clinics.

Replying to government criticism that SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance is organising recent protest rallies and mobilisations, Iliopoulos retorted that "what mobilises the citizens is New Democracy's policy".

He said it was "hypocrisy" on the part of the government to assert that the mobilisations were responsible for the surge in the pandemic, saying that all the rallies held over the last period added together "do not amount to one single day on the daily packed means of public transport."