K. Mitsotakis: Very soon we will have the new drugs for the coronavirus

The Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently visited the Sotiria Hospital which is at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 and wished happy birthday and a happy new year to the doctors, nurses and staff of the Hospital who are here every day, as well as today New Year in the first line.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis thanked them for the fight they are giving and expressed his gratitude for the dedication and self-sacrifice with which they stand by the patients in this unprecedented ordeal for all.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister of Health Thanos Plevris and the Deputy Minister in charge of Health Services, Mina Gaga.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the following statement:

” I wanted to be with you today, the first day of the year, to say thank you again for making these extremely difficult 22 months. I know we sometimes feel like we are trapped in the Myth of Sisyphus, pushing the stone to the top of the mountain to roll over again and start all over again.

But I believe that today, compared to where we were last year, despite the difficulties of Omicron, we are in a much better situation. We have first and foremost all the vaccines, eight out of ten adults in our country are now vaccinated and this is definitely a success of the “Freedom” operation. We want to increase these rates because, you know better than anyone, most of those who end up being intubated and here in your hospital are our elderly, unvaccinated fellow citizens. And whoever listens to us today, our unvaccinated fellow citizen, should know that he may be the one who will end up here to be intubated, to fight for his life while, if he is vaccinated, he is 20 times less likely to end up in a Intensive Care Unit.

At the same time, in cooperation with the Ministry, we have taken care to further strengthen the defense of the health system, especially here in Attica, by mobilizing all the forces of the private sector. And because there is a lot of talk here about who is really lifting weights, the truth is that the National Health Service has lifted almost all of the burden of tackling Covid, but the private sector whenever needed, with one or the other way participated and participates in this effort. This will be done even now if it is needed especially here in Attica.

And finally we will have at our disposal very soon the new drugs for the coronavirus which will be administered in the first days from the moment someone is diagnosed (after the monoclonal ones – I even saw here the label for the monoclonal drugs in hospitals), are drugs that appear to be effective against Omicron mutation as well. We will be one of the first European countries to receive them and based on the protocols to be determined by the experts we will be able to grant them.

So I estimate that we will have some difficult weeks now with the outbreak of Omicron, but it seems to have a lower morbidity. What we want to keep an eye on – and this is the evidence I see every day – is now our fellow citizens who are being treated: how many are with Omicron and how many are with Delta, and if those with Omicron actually have lighter symptoms, as seems to be the case in other European countries, and if patients with Omicron eventually end up less likely to be intubated. If that’s the case, it’s going to be a ray of optimism and it seems to be.

And of course to say one last thing, this adventure will end, some believe that Omicron may be the last chapter until it really becomes endemic or a pandemic. But our work to strengthen the National Health System is not over. We also made a move at Christmas to support – as I promised – frontline workers, but the issue is not just financial. The crisis highlighted the great forces but also the pathogenesis of the National Health System. We know them well now, you know them who are in the front line, we know them too and we will not in any case hesitate in the face of possible political costs so as not to make significant interventions in the National Health System, in order to improve its performance. more.

Not just to staff it with the people who are missing, to ensure good prospects for development within the National Health System for those who offer their services in the field of health, to make the necessary cuts, the necessary changes so that each health unit, whether primary , whether it is a small hospital or a large tertiary hospital, to be able to do properly what it is designed to do.

So in this effort, which started in the coronavirus in the first phase with the strengthening of the Intensive Care Units, which is important, I believe that we will have first and foremost your helpers, because you know better the good and the bad. ”s wrong with the National Health System and our ears and our doors will always be open so we can discuss the next steps.’ ‘