'Mark of the Antichrist': Greek holy men sow vaccine mistrust

Vaccine scepticism is rampant in the country's north, where clerics and monks play a key role in the lives of their followers, often serving as a personal confessor.

Earlier this month dozens gathered to celebrate the nameday of Abbot Maximos in the monastery outside the village of Milochori, west of the nearest town Ptolemaida.

Sitting down to a simple buffet, the 88-year-old abbot used the occasion to hammer home his anti-vaccine message.