Just 9 square kilometers, at the eastern end of Greece, Kastellorizo (or Megisti) is a small island in the Dodecanese famous for being the set of Mediterraneo, the Oscar-winning film of Gabriele Salvatores, and now it is also among the most desired destinations in the world, because it is the first completely Covid-free island in all of Greece. All its inhabitants – around 200 people in winter – have just received it the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
This was announced by the Friends of Kastellorizo ​​newsletter: «February 2021 was a historic month for the inhabitants of Kastellorizo. On Sunday, February 21, they were among the very first populations in Greece to receive the second dose of Pfizer. This means that the entire Kastellorizo ​​community has now been vaccinated against Covid 19».
THE CHOICE
It is the result of a strategic choice by the Greek government: Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias has decided to start with the most remote territories, and that is about 230 islands (there are many inhabited islands) where vaccination is proceeding at the same pace as that of health workers and over 80. They are the least exposed places due to a geographical issue (as well as for the reduced number of inhabitants), simultaneously i less ready to face Covid due to the lack of adequate health facilities, but even the most desired by tourists from all over the world.
“Vaccination is crucial, especially for small islands, which don’t have large hospitals,” he told Reuters Nikolaos Tachtzis, a nursing manager who runs the vaccination campaign in Kastellorizo. “That way we will be protected when the tourists arrive».
THE GREEK CASE
Greece, one of the economically most affected countries by the pandemic, is focusing on the recovery of the sector that is worthwhile 20% of GDP. For this reason, the government has been sponsoring its plan around the world for weeks to make it known that it is ready to start over. The result? Bookings for the summer are soaring: the first come from Great Britain – where in general there is a boom of + 630% more bookings with Spain and Greece as preferred destinations – thanks to the announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of a possible reopening to post lockdown travel, and by Israel, with which Greece has just tightened a bilateral agreement that allows free movement between the two countries for vaccinated citizens.
AND U.S?
Will our “safe” holidays be on an island? In reality, everything needs to be clarified, for example precisely because Greece has not yet specified whether it will allow non-vaccinated people to enter these “Covid-free” islands, like most of us Italians this summer if the campaign does not restart as hoped. The Greek case could however become a model, even for Italy: Francesco Forgione, now mayor of the archipelago of Favignana (Egadi) for the same reason asked that the 2300 islanders be vaccinated immediately. In the gallery above some of the most beautiful Greek islands
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