After days of vacillation, the state decided yesterday to set a minimum entry requirement for 12 to 17 year olds in closed catering premises, not the existence of an active certificate of disease ή vaccination, but the carrying out rapid test.
So, within conditions of division, we were once again asked to choose between one side or the other. And unfortunately we lost sight of the obvious: Diagnostic tests (self-test, rapid or molecular) and vaccines were created by scientists to monitor the epidemiological situation and protect the health of the population. They were not made to be opportunistic mechanisms to promote the vaccination campaign!
In an effort to expand vaccination coverage of the population, the Greek state (and not only the Greek state), chose to manipulatively exploit the financial cost (or inconvenience) of continuous tests, assuming that this will act as a disincentive for the unvaccinated.
This is not an arbitrary conclusion, but a declared policy that has been expressed repeatedly by government lips. Just yesterday, in fact, a senior government official admitted in an off the record discussion that the government is «scraping the bottom of the barrel» because in his view «there is no other way to convince (vaccinate) those who have not been convinced to date».
In simple terms, then, the «carrot and stick» doctrine is extended to diagnostic tests. What is of interest is not the suitability or reliability of one or the other test on the basis of scientific criteria, but whether it can be an appropriate tool for lobbying. And, of course, no one is considering the possibility of producing results contrary to those intended that will undermine the credibility of these scientific achievements in the eyes of the population.
The noble goal of universal vaccination is not served by instrumental logic, manipulation, and outdated coercive practices. Unless we realize this, we will continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
By Michael Hadjikonstantinou
