Politico: Greece focusing on small islands to restart tourism
Greece is focusing on vaccinating the population of its small islands to reopen its tourist season this summer, Politico reports in an article published on March 13.
“With the country desperate to let holidaymakers back in, it’s making sure residents of small islands and islets are given their coronavirus vaccinations so those locations can be marketed as Covid-free,” the article explains.
Kastellorizo in the Dodecanese was the first island in Greece to have its entire adult population vaccinated.
This policy is also chosen to avoid the logistics of having to send medical teams to the islands.
The Greek government is pushing for an EU-wide deal on a vaccination certificate that people can use to show they’ve had the jab, but Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis said the process is moving too slowly.
“If Europe continues to move slowly, it risks losing a great opportunity to show its global leadership,” he told Politico. “We have to move as fast as possible. I don’t think it’s a technical issue, there should be political will from all the countries for this to happen as soon as possible.”
