Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ meeting with the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakidou (Brussels, 16.12.2021)

Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis met today in Brussels with the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakidou. The discussion focused on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, the Alternate Minister briefed Ms. Kyriakidou on the progress of the vaccination program in Greece and expressed his satisfaction for the increase in the rate of vaccinations. “The vaccine is our most effective shield, the most powerful weapon we have against the virus. We are determined to speed up the vaccination program, even if we have to take difficult but necessary decisions, such as the one concerning citizens over the age of 60”, he pointedly said.

In this context, Mr. Varvitsiotis referred both to the strong promotion of the third primary dose in Greece, which was among the first countries to make the relevant online platform available to all citizens, and to the recent government decision to conduct diagnostic tests on those entering the country. The decision is imposed by the rapid spread of the “omicron” variant, which is of particular concern to us. “As the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis explained today at the European Council, in this way we save precious time during the critical holiday period, so that we can build a stronger collective wall of immunity through the increase of vaccinations”, he pointed out.

Finally, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs briefed the Cypriot Commissioner on the consultations in the EU General Affairs Council regarding the period of validity of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, the delivery of vaccines to third countries, the implementation of revised recommendations on free movement, but also the need to tackle misinformation and fake news on the pandemic.