Elafonisos (Greece) (AFP)

Sitting on a chair in front of the Elafonisos dispensary, the septuagenarian Panagiotis Aronis, inhabitant of this small tourist island located at the end of the Peloponnese peninsula in the south of Greece, waits stoically for his turn to receive the second dose of the vaccine .

Greece has worked hard to complete as a priority the vaccination of dozens of small islands in the Aegean (east) and Ionian (west) before the vaccination of larger ones, welcoming millions of tourists each year, in view of the opening official tourist season in mid-May.

"The sky is clear, the (vaccination) procedure is going well and with a little luck we will all survive," said Panagiotis Aronis, raising his eyes to the blue sky of Elafonisos, known for its white sand beaches in Aegean Sea, bordered by dunes.

A medical van carrying hundreds of vials of the vaccine in special boxes is parked in front of the dispensary.

Escorted by the doctor Anargyros Mariolis responsible for vaccination on the island, this vehicle arrived on the island on Friday morning aboard the "Elafonisos" ferry connecting the island to the port near Pounta in mainland Greece.

Called by the authorities "Operation Freedom", the vaccination program across Greece "continues in an exemplary manner on the islands", welcomes Anargyros Mariolis.

"Our goal is to create a wall of immunity to return to normalcy as soon as possible," he told AFP.

At the end of the day, after completing the vaccination at the dispensary, he went to the elderly, unable to move, to continue his task.

- The "shield" vaccine -

The mayor of Elafonisos, Efi Liarou assures that "70% of the population of the island will be vaccinated by mid-May, which constitutes a kind of shield for the inhabitants".

"This is a very important step which guarantees the opening of the tourist season and sends a message of optimism", she underlines, welcoming the "Covid-free identity" of her island of a surface area. of 18km2.

Elafonisos welcomes 200,000 tourists every year but last year the number of visitors was very small, the tourism industry being hit hard by the pandemic.

"The pace of vaccination on the islands is fast" because the transport of vaccines is complicated and the operation must be done in a very short time, said Marios Themistokleous, general secretary for health insurance, from the island on Thursday. Cycladic of Iraklia in the Aegean where he had gone with the Minister of Health Vassilis Kikilias to inspect the procedure.

"We will soon complete the vaccination on islands of less than a thousand inhabitants before accelerating the operation on the largest islands," he said.

The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic was particularly virulent in Greece, where containment accompanied by a curfew has been in force since last November.

With 10.7 million inhabitants, the country has deplored a total of nearly 10,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the vast majority of which in recent months.

- "We'll get there" -

To prepare for the tourist season, on which its economy depends, as in the majority of southern European countries, Greece began in early April to gradually open non-essential shops and schools before the scheduled opening of the terraces on May 3. cafes and restaurants.

Greek civil aviation last Monday lifted the mandatory seven-day quarantine - in effect until then - for travelers who are permanent residents of member countries of the European Union, the Schengen area, the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Serbia and United Arab Emirates.

Visitors must have a vaccination certificate or a negative test for coronavirus within 72 hours.

"Identity + Covid-free" is a privilege for our island, reassures tourists after all this period of confinement, "said Chryssoula Kataga, 43, owner of a restaurant in the port of Elafonissos.

Babis Aronis, who is in the process of completing the renovation of his hotel on the heights of the port, confides that "the phone calls for reservations have already started".

"From May 14, everything will be better, we will get there this summer," he says.

© 2021 AFP