Only 55% of the Greek population had been fully vaccinated against coronavirus by August 26, as a large portion of citizens treat vaccines either with disbelief or with strong refusal.
From Bill Gates' chips to the supposed dangers to the reproductive system, some vaccine claims are so extreme that it is difficult to find logical answers.
But there are also plausible concerns of skeptics that may be reassured by recent studies.
So let's look at four arguments against vaccination that are firmly refuted.
Vaccines are experimental
The first argument that vaccinators have lost this week is that the vaccines "have not been tested enough" and remain "experimental".
It is difficult to characterize experimental formulations that have been administered in billions of doses to date.
But the truth is that all vaccines today Covid-19 used with "urgent approval" because of the pandemic, a phrase that seems to have worried many.
The final answer was given on Monday by the US Food and Drug Administration, which offered the final, full approval of the Pfizer vaccine, after analyzing additional safety data from the long-term follow-up of thousands of volunteers.
"Even though millions of people have already been vaccinated against it Covid-19"We recognize that, for some, FDA approval will provide more confidence," said Janet Woodcock, the agency's commissioner.
The approval is also expected to pave the way for mandatory vaccinations of certain groups of the US population, according to US media.
The start was made by the US Department of Defense, which ordered all its active members to be vaccinated immediately with the Pfizer vaccine.
It is hard to imagine that any country would vaccinate its army with drugs of dubious security.
Vaccines "do not work"
A second argument, cited by former Health Minister Pavlos Polakis, is that vaccines are not effective against the Delta strain, a claim that implies that it makes no sense to be vaccinated and suffer any side effects.
Indeed, the effectiveness of vaccination seems to have decreased compared to the highly contagious Delta, which has now prevailed in Greece and many other countries.
Five to six months after the second dose, the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against symptomatic infection dropped from 88 to 74 percent, the large British study ZOE showed on Wednesday. In the case of AstraZeneca, efficacy decreased from 77 to 67 percent in four to five months after the second dose.
Similar findings emerged on Tuesday from data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which show that the effectiveness of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against symptomatic Covid-19 decreased from 91% to 66% since the Delta variant became dominant in the US.
However, these studies did not examine levels of protection against serious infection, hospitalization, and death.
A more complete picture emerged on Thursday from a different CDC study, which looked at 43.000 cases in Los Angeles and found that, despite declining efficacy, vaccines remain a powerful weapon in preventing hospitalization.
The study shows that unvaccinated citizens are 29 times more likely to need hospitalization due to Covid-19 compared to fully vaccinated.
Among those vaccinated, the analysis showed, only 3% needed hospitalization, only 0,5% were admitted to an intensive care unit, and even lower, at 0,2%, was the percentage of patients who needed a ventilator.
The numbers change dramatically in the case of the unvaccinated, as the percentage that required hospitalization was 29,2 times higher than in the case of the unvaccinated.
In addition, the risk of coronavirus infection was 4,7 times higher.
In Greece, only 5,2% of confirmed cases are vaccinated, said Professor Vana Papaevangelou on Thursday at a press conference at the Ministry of Health
Vaccines cause thrombosis
The largest study ever conducted on the side effects of vaccines confirmed on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine slightly increases the risk of blood clots.
But the risk of thrombosis is far higher for those infected with the coronavirus, researchers at the University of Oxford told the British Medical Journal.
In the case of the Pfizer vaccine, the study found a small increase in the chance of having a stroke. But even in this case the risk is much lower than the risk of stroke Covid-19.
In particular, research has shown that for every 10 million people vaccinated with AstraZeneca
The study also found that for every 10 million people who receive the Pfizer vaccine, an additional 143 people will have a stroke, a risk nine times lower than the risk of having a stroke. Covid-19.
Vaccines can have long-term effects
The vaccines Covid-19 have been used for over a year and no long-term effects have been reported during this time.
In theory, however, the risk is real.
The point is that this theoretical risk should be weighed against the absolutely real risk of long-term effects from the coronavirus itself.
For many coronavirus patients in need of hospitalization, full recovery may take at least a year, a large study at a hospital in Wuhan, China confirmed on Friday.
Twelve months after being discharged, nearly half continue to report a wide variety of symptoms, from shortness of breath to hair loss and depression, the Lancet research team said.
In an accompanying tutorial, the Lancet warned that the problem was growing: in Britain, almost one million people have reported persistent symptoms of the so-called Covid-19, including 34.000 children 2-16 years old.
in.gr