Intervention of Evangelos Venizelos in the discussion provoked by the study Th. Lytra – S. Tsiodra

Evangelos Venizelos intervened in the discussion caused by the publication of the study of professors Th. Lytra and S. Tsiodra by posting it on his personal Facebook page. Mr. Venizelos states that he completely agrees with Professor S. Tsiodras that science should not be “instrumentalized” politically and even partisanly. However, he goes on to say that: The state and the political system, however, when managing phenomena such as the pandemic, must seek complete and valid scientific information, move within the framework of scientific recommendations and justify any deviations from the proposals of the advisory bodies that decide for other reasons of public interest – such as the resilience of the economy and society – which must be weighed with extreme caution.

The whole post of Mr. Venizelos:

“On October 4, 2021, with a public intervention, I asked the medical community to explain to us why there is an increased rate and number of deaths in the current phase of the pandemic so that based on scientifically valid information, the Government can make its own decisions and the opposition its share of social responsibility.

There were reactions that referred to the overall average performance of the country, taking into account the very good elements of last year’s initial phase of the pandemic, while some expressed the position that my intervention gave SYRIZA the impetus to exercise a partisan opposition to the opposition.

Because I have always defended the constitutionality of health measures, including compulsory vaccination in special groups or even universally if the epidemiological data so require, because at critical moments I have publicly asked for stricter measures to be taken where necessary ) and because I have denounced as blatantly unconstitutional the invocation of the Constitution by its enemies and the fascinating ridiculousness of the “custodians”, I consider that I have the right and the obligation as a citizen to intervene in the debate caused by the publication of the study by Professor Th. Lytras and S. Tsiodra.

I completely agree with Professor S. Tsiodras that science should not be “instrumentalized” politically and even partisanly. However, the state and the political system, when managing phenomena such as the pandemic, must seek complete and valid scientific information, move within the framework of scientific recommendations and justify any deviations from the proposals of the scientific advisory bodies decided for reasons of public interest. – such as the resilience of the economy and society – which must be weighed with the utmost care.

Any sense of “end of the alarm” and “return to normalcy” is obviously wrong. The Omicron mutation has come to remind us that great caution and unwavering vigilance are required at the global, regional and national levels.

Universal and complete vaccination is a necessary condition but unfortunately not sufficient to treat the pandemic as it develops. They also need continuous, generalized, reliable tests. There is already an international shift in PCR tests, the costs of which must be covered, at least in part, by the state, especially for fully vaccinated low- and middle-income earners.

The debate on the resilience of the NSS must be conducted in terms of scientific accuracy and absolute scientific and political sincerity. It is not only the number of available ICU beds in Athens and other areas that matters, but obviously the adequate staffing of the units with the appropriate and necessary specialized, experienced and sufficient medical and nursing staff. So the country has a limit on the number of scientifically and nursing ICU beds. The country is also facing an acute problem of geographical inequalities within its health map.

If at this stage, these issues become the subject of a conventional partisan dispute, time and dynamism will be lost that must be channeled in favor of society and citizens. The government must take action and take initiatives that involve everyone, the entire scientific community, the media, civil society and social media and, of course, the political forces in the necessary adapted relaunch of national planning to deal with the pandemic. ” .