ATHENS — Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, replying to reporters as he arrived for the EU Health Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday about the Greek Vaccination Committee's recommendation that only people aged over 60 should be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, said that the National Vaccination Authority is a committee comprised of excellent scientists and carries out its duties with dedication and on the basis of the scientific data.

"As you are aware, millions of Europeans and hundreds of Greeks have had the AstraZeneca vaccine and are protected from the disease. Over 20 European countries are now recommending that the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should be done as normal since the side effects are minor. We will continue to do our job in a scientific way. The vaccination programme is running smoothly and very soon, during the summer, we will have built the highly anticipated wall of immunity that we need and want in order to gradually return to a normality that the Greeks and all European citizens deserve to have," Kikilias said.