G. Gerapetritis: The issue of extending the obligation of vaccination is open

The pandemic is an unprecedented phenomenon and in this sense “you can never rule out anything,” State Minister George Gerapetritis told Sky radio, leaving open the possibility of vaccination in the future. which is not considered for the next period, as he clarified. “We have other weapons in our quiver, besides vaccination, there is also the possibility of mass testing,” he said, urging citizens to be vigilant during the holidays. While he also sent the political message, “we never calculated the political cost”.

Starting from the question whether there was a delay in satisfying the request for acceleration of the 3rd installment, the Minister of State noted that “Greece was the first country in Europe to open the third installment for all citizens regardless of age, in the first phase for 60 and above, and then in the manner in which it will take place “. And, rejecting the complaints about the delay, he reminded that “when the 3rd dose was activated, we heard that the activation was rather very fast”. He further added that the issue was “purely medical” and that the government, “receiving more of society’s messages but also studying the data, had suggested that the tranche be delivered four months in advance. It is a decision that can only be taken with the approval of the of the vaccination committee “, he remarked, adding that” it will meet in the next hours so that this issue will be decided, we expect the developments very soon “.

On the contrary, “compulsory vaccination is primarily a matter of political will” and with the comment that “it was not a pandemic request, it was possibly a request of a significant portion”, G. Gerapetritis added: “The compulsory vaccination that we also adopt first in Europe – only Austria has announced it but for later than us – it is coming at the right time “.

A phrase he later explained, saying that “apart from the moral obligation, there is the legal-constitutional obligation of the State to bring the compulsory vaccination only when it has exhausted all possible mild means”. In fact, at this point he spoke of three phases, the first with persuasion, the second with the introduction of incentives – disincentives for vaccinated and not respectively, and the third with the mandatory vaccination that “hits the source of the problem”, given that the burden of the health system and deaths mainly concern those over 60 years of age.

In another issue, how can the customer in the restaurant be vaccinated and the employee maybe not, he reiterated that “the employee is in a different real and legal situation from the one who will go for his entertainment, as for one it is necessary “The catering worker must wear his mask while the entertainer does not wear it all the time. In addition, the employee undergoes multiple diagnostic tests during the week so that he can be tested as much as possible.” a few more arguments relied on by the Minister of State.

In conclusion, “it can never be ruled out depending on the adaptations – we also have the mutation, the scope of which we are waiting to see – you can never rule out anything,” he said, while finally agreeing with the journalistic statement that no expansion is being considered. mandatory vaccination in the coming days without excluding such a measure in the future.

“You can not stick to a policy that seems to be out of place, the unknown that causes a new mutation played a big role,” he said. “We were still in the period when we were expecting the implementation of measures that had to do primarily with persuasion and restrictive measures.” After all, “when we discussed some time ago that we will not take mandatory measures, it was obviously the capture of the moment, but it was also the need we have, to respect what the law requires”, he noted emphatically, while clarifying that the government also heard the opinion of the Bioethics and Technoethics Committee, which supported the division of politics into phases: in other words “to exhaust the dynamics of each phase, and if we find that the arguments of persuasion or restrictive measures do not work – as happened in this age group par excellence – then we can go to compulsory vaccination So yes, we did say that at that stage we would not go to compulsory vaccination and also yes, the data have changed, but today we are talking about no one disputing the measures are appropriate, necessary and constitutional “.

And, widening the discussion, “we have in our quiver other weapons, besides vaccination, there is the possibility of mass testing”, much less that the vast majority understands the criticality of the situation. If it is to be in a mass gathering place, especially on holidays (…) it is a duty of responsibility first of all to do a test – and I think it will be the establishment of the health committee “. In short, “we all have to be vigilant during the doctor’s period”.

However, G. Gerapetritis said something else: “we have never claimed – and I, much rather – the infallible. Of course mistakes are made, it is an unprecedented phenomenon and we, like all the governments of the world, are facing very difficult decisions. “Whatever measure you take, you will create resentment and denial in certain social subsets. We never calculated the political cost,” was the message he sent.

On another issue, apart from the pandemic, that of the mobilizations in the port of Piraeus on the one hand, in the metro on the other hand, the minister after referring to the unfavorable weather conditions that kept most ships moored, hence the supply problems, noted that despite the court decisions considered the strikes illegal and abusive, “for a short time a number of workers kept the port closed”, but “the order was restored voluntarily”. However, he also assured that “the law will be strictly observed, that is, if there is a phenomenon in which there will be an obstruction in the level of transport (…) then the State will intervene unilaterally, I assure you of that”.

As for the metro, the provision for security personnel in critical infrastructure “has not been activated yet, it is being activated now, that was the plan”, he said, reminding at the same time that “we went through a long period that we did not have any strike in transport, we have not had any in the last two years “, with the sole exception of the workers’ strike due to the death of their colleague in the line maintenance works. However, he added, “it was reasonable and justified, and not even the competent body appealed. It is a tolerable inconvenience, when it is done for a serious reason”, he concluded.

SOURCE: AMPE