Despite the reactions to the indirect mandatory vaccination of people aged 60 and over, the government hopes that the new measure will have an effect, judging by the fact that within 24 hours of the announcements, 17,500 new first dose appointments were made by citizens of this age group.
In particular, government officials point out that while the previous 10 days the average number of new appointments for the first dose of vaccination was 2,600, yesterday after the announcements of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the corresponding number reached 9,000, that is 3.5 times more. And today, within 24 hours of the announcements, this number reached 17,500, i.e. almost sevenfold.
However, as the reactions remain strong, the Prime Minister will intervene in Parliament at half past one in the afternoon, during the discussion of the Health Ministry's bill and will refer to the issue of compulsory vaccination for citizens aged 60 and over.
Mitsotakis is expected to reiterate that this new measure was a difficult decision, but necessary in order to save lives and bring the 4th wave of coronavirus under control, so that the economy remains open at Christmas.
The government's health argument is that the approximately 520,000 unvaccinated over 60s are the most at risk and put the NHS at risk.
It is recalled that while there has been an increase in vaccination appointments after the latest measures, especially for the third dose, there has been no significant increase in the number of older unvaccinated people attending. It is indicative that in Portugal where the vaccination rate for the over 60s is 98% the occupied ICUs and losses are minimal. On the contrary, in Greece the vaccination rate is still at 83% and the number of victims exceeds 80 every day, while the NHS is already overstretched.
However, while it is considered undeniable that a large percentage of older people who are not vaccinated are influenced by the Church, the government is still reluctant to come into conflict with the “holy vote” and the Holy Synod throws the ball to the state, stating that it cannot control the believers who enter the churches.
So, since the government did not want to take measures to limit the diaspora in churches, but also in order to avoid other measures that would bring it back into conflict with the middle class, i.e. with catering and retail entrepreneurs, it returned to a logic of fines, combined with the distribution of free self-tests to the entire population before and after the holidays.
However, the Prime Minister yesterday argued that the threat of a 100 euro per month fine for unvaccinated people over 60 is not a punishment but a protection, and that it is not a penalty but a “health fee”.
Viki Samara
