The Greek statement came as the U.S. company began delivering its vaccine to countries across the EU, a few days later than initially planned due to production issues.
After a lockdown a year ago caused widespread misery and one of the sharpest downturns of any major economy, the central government is desperate to avoid a hugely unpopular second shutdown.
The central bank ramped up buying of sovereign bonds after a surge in U.S. Treasury yields lifted borrowing costs in the bloc and threatened Europe's tentative recovery.
The blue-chip index ended up 0.8pc, with Anglo American one of the biggest boosts to the index, gaining 3.2pc on plans to spin off its thermal coal assets in South Africa.
Hancock emphasised the serious side effects were "extremely rare", adding that all three of the vaccines so far approved for use in Britain were "safe for all ages".
The Philippines has so far received 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccines, about a fifth of the country's total inventory, through the COVAX facility.
“At the same time, there is no "NOC" requirement (or any NOC pending) or bar for any provincial government to procure any registered vaccine if they are able to,” he stated.