ATHENS — Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday sent a double message, warning against any complacency that may arise following the news of the great scientific success with the development of a vaccine, but also urging people to avoid unnecessary movements, while speaking at a meeting on the vaccination strategy against the coronavirus.

"We would be making a huge mistake if this great success of science with the discovery of the vaccine, led us to additional complacency. The exact opposite must be done. Now that we know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, now that we are almost certain that, in the first half of 2021, we will have achieved a sufficient level of vaccination to put this crisis behind us, this very information should make us stronger and more focused in observing the protection measures," the prime minister noted. In fact, he appealed again to all citizens to show responsibility to their relatives and society as a whole and to limit their movements to those absolutely necessary, in order, as he said, for the national health system to be able to cope.

The prime minister also pointed out that the vaccine will be administered without charge for all citizens. "I insist on the free access of all the Greeks to the vaccine, because this government from the beginning treated the vaccine as a public good. That is why it will be available for free to everyone without exception. It is our obligation, but at the same time, in this way, our commitment to the protection of public health."

According to Mitsotakis, Greece will receive more than 25 million doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 through pre-purchase agreements signed by the European Union with pharmaceutical companies, while the first deliveries are expected in early 2021.