Greece has begun administering vaccinations for Covid-19 outside churches in a pilot programme recently announced by the government as a means of encouraging more people to get the shots.

Mobile National Health Organisation units began administering shots in a churchyard in Archanes, a town near the city of Heraklion on the southern island of Crete, AP reported.

The single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine was being used, with shots being administered from 9am until 2pm.

The government announced the programme last month, with mobile health care units to administer shots in town squares outside churches, initially in Crete and later expanding to the country’s main cities.