Α perceived verbal faux pas involving the AstraZeneca vaccine uttered by main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, the leftist prime minister in Greece between 2015-2019, during a television appearance on Wednesday morning, generated the latest political "joust" in the country, and rekindled public interest over alleged side-effects.
Appearing on an Athens television station's breakfast-time news variety program, claimed that the government "opened the platform for vaccinations of the age group 30-39 much earlier than planned in order to destock" the AZ vaccine.
Similar to other European, concerns have been raised in Greece over the recent period regarding side-effects of the specific vaccines, especially claims that it causes blood clots in certain categories of recipients.
"It's the umpteenth time, amid the pandemic, that Mr. Tsipras, instead of calling for compliance with the measures and advising citizens to get vaccinated, instead casts lines in the murky waters of danger-mongering," a government spokeswoman later said, while charging that the opposition leader was transforming himself into anti-vaxxer.
In a reply, a SYRIZA spokesman said it was impudent to claim that your political opponent is encouraging a rejection of vaccinations at the very moment he's pleading to citizens to get vaccinated with any available vaccine, especially AstraZeneca.
