Update on Hydra's Covid Position

Today my brain has been juggling multiple loads of seemingly contradictory information. By evening, I had a headache coming on that had nothing to do with my 2nd vac jab last weekend!

So joining the ranks of the reported 27% increase in Greek smokers since the outbreak of Covid, I went for a combined walk/shopping trip to pick up another packet of ciggies to relax the tension a bit. (With my SMS permit and mask, of course.)

Much to my delight, Mary Katsika, Hydra's Deputy Mayor of Social Services, was taking her turn to mind the family shop. And better still cheerfully agreed to catch me up on some statistics between her juggling shop customers and taking phone calls from Hydriots registering belatedly for the latest Hydra group batch of 18-59-year-old first vac jabs.

It has been Mary's extra job on top of her normal municipal duties to coordinate the registration and appointment times for all the on island vaccinations. With all that entails, it's not an easy job and I take my hat off to Mary for having risen to the challenge so well.

As of the middle of next week, 400 Hydra residents will have had their 2nd jabs. (60+ age group plus emergency and vital service people.)

There are currently 846 registered for the current Hydra group (18-59 year olds plus a few older people who didn't register for the previous group). The 1st vaccination jabs for this group started this week. It's hoped that they will all have their first jabs by Pascha. (This will mean about 60 a day, so it might be more realistic to hope for just after Pascha!)

So by the end of May, 1246 people will have been fully vaccinated as part of the 'on-Hydra groups'.

Add another approximate 200 to account for those Hydriots who opted to go to Athens, Galatas or Kranidi when their groups were called, on the Emvolio site.

So we should have had approximately 1446 Hydra people 'double dosed' by the end of May.

As this equates to over 60% of the island's population, it's hugely encouraging. And Mary told me this evening that people are still calling her to be added to the list. So perhaps the percentage will be higher.

Mary also confirmed that some of the 27 non-AMKA residents who did as asked and registered back in January via the Emvolio.gov.gr site for an emergency AMKA, have received their SMS delivered numbers and Mary has now been able to add them to the list for vaccination in this latest group. Again, if you don't have an AMKA and haven't already applied for one on Emvolio, please do so immediately. Alternatively, you can contact the KEP office (as announced in today's press), but as it's all done digitally now, it will be best to use Emvolio. It does work but is taking about 3 months to process. There is no way to circumvent the system. You might miss a group vac session on Hydra, but once you have your emergency number, you will be able to get an appointment in Galatas or Kranidi.

Next, Mary and I discussed the nasty little outbreak of March. Happily, everyone who was affected has recovered. We are now down to only 1 positive case in isolation on Hydra. Sadly, Giannis Belegris, Hydra's Deputy Mayor, is still in hospital but better than he was and slowly improving. I am sure I am not alone in wishing him a speedy and full recovery.

I would personally like to add my thanks to everyone else on Hydra who recognise what a fantastic job Mary is doing. It is not easy to organise minute by minute appointments at the last moment with none of the wiggle room that Greeks usually apply to time-keeping. And at the same time, to help with the family business, run her own home and deal with her other municipal responsibilities. She has my complete admiration. And my thanks for taking the time this evening to keep me informed.

Please visit my pages CoVid Updates and Travel Restrictions for more updates.

Hang on in there everyone, just a bit longer and hopefully we will be ready to welcome everyone back safely after the 14th May.

Regards, Kelsey