Sharjah24 – AFP: Greece on Tuesday named a new head to the state health watchdog that oversees the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as the country's death toll neared 15,000.

The health ministry said the new head of the Eody agency is Theoklis Zaoutis, a former chief of the division of paediatric infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

As of Monday, the virus had claimed more than 14,990 lives with an average age of 78, according to Eody.

Main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday said he had demanded answers from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in parliament on the course of the pandemic.

"We are among the first in deaths per million residents in Europe," Tsipras said, adding that Greece "ranks 20th in vaccinations among 30 European states."

The government spokesman retorted Tuesday that the "overwhelming majority" of Greeks have been vaccinated.

According to Eody data, nearly 6.2 million people have received two vaccine doses in the country of 11 million. More than 12.2 million vaccinations have been administered overall.