Greece begins administering COVID vaccines outside churches

Greece has begun administering vaccinations for COVID-19 outside churches

ARCHANES, Greece -- Greece has begun administering vaccinations for COVID-19 outside churches in a pilot program recently announced by the government as a means of encouraging more people to get the shots. Mobile National Health Organization units began administering shots Monday in a church yard in Archanes, a town near the city of Heraklion on the southern island of Crete. The single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine was being used, with shots being administered from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Fifty-two appointments were booked for the first day, but some people were turning up without appointments and were being given the vaccines. The government announced the program last month, with mobile health care units to administer shots in town squares outside churches, initially in Crete and later expanding to the country’s main cities.