Sotiris Tsiodras | |
|---|---|
| Leader of team charged with managing theCoronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Greece Government liaison officer on coronavirus pandemic | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1965-10-13)13 October 1965 (age 60) Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Spouse | Mina |
| Children | 7 |
| Alma mater | University of Athens |
| Profession | Physician;internist; infectious disease specialist |
Sotiris Tsiodras (Greek: Σωτήρης Τσιόδρας; born 13 October 1965) is aGreekinternal medicinephysician, specializing ininfectiology (infectious diseases), in charge ofGreece's management of thecoronavirusSARS-CoV-2crisis.
Tsiodras was born on 13 October 1965 inSydney,Australia, into animmigrant family originating fromNeohori, Argolis.[1] After the family moved back to Greece, he enrolled into theIoannina medical school and then transferred to theUniversity of Athens from which he graduated in March 1991 as a pathologist.[2]
In 1993, Tsiodras was assigned to the 401 General Military Hospital of Athens[3] where he served for one year.[4] During the years 1994–1997, he worked as an internal medicine specialist specializing inInternal Medicine at theEinstein Medical Center Philadelphia in the United States. From 1997 to 2001, he enrolled in the programs forinfectious diseases atBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center andHarvard Medical School. Between 1998 and 2001, he worked as aresearch fellow at Harvard Medical School from which he received aMedical SciencesM.A in June 2001.[5]
In 2003, he defendedcum laude hisdoctoral dissertation at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.[6]
In 2020, the government appointed a group of experts to coordinate the country's management of theSARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Greece.[7] Tsiodras was appointed as the team's leader as well as the government's communications liaison for the COVID-19 health crisis.[8][9]In December 2021, a study on the management of the fight against the disease in Greece, co-written by Tsiodras and Theodore Lytras, assistant professor ofpublic health at theEuropean University Cyprus, was published in theScandinavian Journal of Public Health.[10] The study, conducted between September 2020 and May 2021, examined in-hospital mortality of intubated COVID-19 patients, in relation to totalintubated patient load,intensive care unit availability, and hospital region. It found that mortality increased by 25% when ICU occupancy exceeded 400 patients, rising progressively to 57% when is went over 800 patients. It also found that "quality of care under increasing patient loads has received less attention" and pointed out "the need for more substantial strengthening ofhealthcare services, focusing on equity and quality of care besides just expanding capacity."[11][12] Tsiodras released a statement decrying political exploitation of the publication.[13]
During theswine fluepidemic that hit Greece in 2009,[14] as well asEurope, various Greeksocial media and publications claimed that Tsiodras had been somehow involved in what were ostensibly "excessive" purchases of vaccines for theH1N1 virus,[15] claims that resurfaced during the covid pandemic.
They were proved to be without merit since the chair person of the 2009 epidemic committee was another professor, while Tsiodras had been appointed as arapporteur of the Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. The procurement of the vaccines had been a government decision taken by the General Secretary of the Ministry of Health under byMinister of HealthDimitris Avramopoulos andPrime MinisterCostas Karamanlis.[16] Tsiodras himself, who was at the time professor of Pathology and Infections at the Athens University, had publicly opined that "only in the case of a flupandemic in Greece could the remaining quantities of the vaccines be used, an event that, for now, is only hypothetical."[17] Avramopoulos was eventually investigated for having been "bribed" by pharmaceuticalNovartis to proceed with the "excessive quantity" of the swine flu vaccine but the prosecution authority declared, in February 2022, the case as being without merit and containing no evidence for a court trial.[18]
During thecovid pandemic in Greece, several scientists receiveddeath threats and were the target offake news.[19][20][21]
Le Figaro claimed that Tsiodras was the "new 'main man' of Greeks".[22] In the article, it is claimed that Tsiodras had asked Prime MinisterKyriakos Mitsotakis to impose strict lockdown measures as soon as the first cases were reported in Italy. Greeksociologist Andreas Drymiotis remarked that "Greeks particularly appreciate [Tsiodras'] calm, his knowledge on the matter, and his deep respect for all victims and the fact that he has an unbreakable dedication to nursing staff."[23]
New York Times journalist Matina Stevis-Gridneff described him as one of the "heroes of the coronavirus era".[9] In May 2020,Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that, to Tsiodras, it is "important that nobody is forgotten in a crisis." After many residents of aRoma settlement inThessaly tested positive for the virus, Tsiodras traveled to the settlement and ordered that the people be supported with food and disinfectants, warning against attempts to "scapegoat" the Roma.[24]
Tsiodras is a practicingOrthodox Christian, an aficionado ofByzantinehymnology, and a member of his local church's choir. He and his wife Asimina, née Ghéli,[25] have seven children.[2]
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)The country is doing well in the fight against the virus. The success has a name: Sotiris Tsiodras.
