Following the closure of secondary schools in Athens and Thessaloniki, a school in the northeastern city of Alexandroupoli, close to the Turkish border, was temporarily sealed off on October 26 2009 after several students were identified as swine flu carriers, the Greek Kathimerini reported on October 27 2009.In early October, schools in Metamorphosi, Athens, and Panorama, Thessaloniki as well as the town of Hania, on the island of Crete were closed, either partially or completely, because of the influenza. Additional outbreaks also forced the closure of private schools in the Greek capital earlier in October.The Greek government maintains its stance that it wants to make the vaccination of all its citizens mandatory in spite of the fact that large swathes of the Greek population do not consider the epidemic all that important.Greek health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos told Greek media that his government's aim was "to vaccinate all citizens and residents of the country without exception". He said that this would be accomplished by each citizen submitting a written application accompanied by a medical evaluation.Greek authorities have already earmarked a 40 million euro package for vaccines and placed further orders with Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi for eight million vaccine doses.Complications arise from the fact that, like Bulgaria, many people in the country who have contracted the strain, do not report it to authorities and so risk exposing others to the influenza. Additionally, a survey conducted in Greece by Kathimerini on October 5 showed that nearly a third of Greeks will not bother to get their free jab, while 50 per cent remained unconvinced it was necessary.
29.10.2009
