ATHENS, Dec 28 - RIA Novosti. One case of allergic reaction to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been reported in Greece, Primary Health Care Secretary General Marios Themistokleous said at a health ministry briefing on Monday evening.
Mass vaccination of the population against coronavirus began in Greece on Sunday. The vaccines used are Pfizer's vaccines - the only vaccine approved by the EU authorities. In Greece, the vaccination campaign was called "Operation Freedom".
"As of 4 pm today, 471 people were vaccinated in five hospitals in Athens. A case of mild allergic reaction was reported, which was successfully dealt with," Themistokleous said, noting that he intends to provide journalists with detailed information with absolute publicity.
National Vaccination Committee Chair Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics Maria Theodoridou said vaccine allergies are extremely rare, according to the CDC and the authoritative Allergy and Immunological Society of Greece.
“There are 1.3 cases per million doses. Similar to common allergies that we all have in the environment, such as food allergies, medications, allergens such as powder or even hymenoptera toxins like wasp or bee stings, all of us, they were in our history or something like that, these allergic reactions are not a contraindication to vaccination, "she said.
She said that in every vaccination center there is a drug for the immediate treatment of any allergic reaction, even a mild one, as well as the possibility of a more serious reaction with the introduction of epinephrine.
Theodoridou urged the public not to listen to "false, misleading news that does not pass through the filter of scientific knowledge."
"Plan Freedom has a shield symbol and a syringe with a vaccine in the middle. Because the vaccine will indeed be our shield against the virus and our main weapon to avoid a pandemic that has turned our daily lives upside down," said the chairman of the vaccination committee.
Themistokleous said that on Tuesday vaccination will continue in five hospitals in Attica and will begin in four hospitals in the regions - in Larissa, Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Patras.
Greece received 9,750 doses of the vaccine in the first batch, the secretary general said.
“Tomorrow, December 29, we received the first large batch of 83,850 doses of Pfizer vaccine, and it will be placed in five central storage locations from where it will be distributed to hospital vaccination centers,” Themistocleous said.
Then, large shipments of vaccine will arrive in January, February and March. Greece will receive 1.255 million doses of Pfizer vaccine by the end of March, he said.
He also said that supplies of Moderna vaccine will soon be added to them.
"Moderna is expected to be approved by the European Medicines Agency on January 6," the Secretary General said.
Greece expects to receive 240,000 doses of Moderna vaccine in the first quarter of 2021.
AstraZeneca vaccine is expected in the future, followed by Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson και CureVac.
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