Plan under way to set up vaccination clinics in universities
Vaccine clinics will be set up on university campuses around Greece to ensure that as many students as possible get their jabs, Minister Niki Kerameus said on Wednesday.
Kerameus told Open TV that “a process is under way” but did not provide specifics or a timeframe on the plan.
Universities will open on October 1 with a strict health protocol in place. Teaching staff and students must present either a certificate of vaccination or illness in the last six months or a laboratory test (PCR or Rapid) upon arrival, she said. The burden of checking the certificates falls on university authorities.
The minister reiterated that physical attendance will be required for all classes in secondary and tertiary education this year. “It has been decided internationally that schools will remain open but there will be increased testing,” she said in the interview. In case of an outbreak, pupils in the affected class will do two rapid tests a week for free, while vaccinated children will only do a self test. The children who sit closest to the student infected with Covid will have to be tested daily.
Classes will move online if the number of cases is equal or more than 50 pct plus one of the students in the class, Kerameus said.
Unvaccinated teachers will be required to attend schools with two laboratory tests (PCR or Rapid) which they are responsible for obtaining and will be suspended from work if they do not comply. At the same time, Kerameus said that a system of very rapid recruitments has been established to fill possible gaps within a few days.
She also said that 80 percent of school teachers are vaccinated, which in combination with the 10 pct who have contracted the coronavirus “offers a coverage of 90 pct.”
At the same time, 28 pct of children between the ages of 15-18 have been inoculated, as well as 14 pct of those aged 12-15, and urged parents to continue vaccinating children.
