Answers to all the open issues of the “war” against the pandemic are given by the Minister of State ‘Akis Skertsos, in an interview with the “Free Press of Sunday”: obligation, possible lockdown, the attitude of the opposition, the vaccination and the third dose. For the latter in particular, he points to the practice in Israel and France, which linked the possibility of indoor access for the autumn-winter months with the third installment, to emphasize to our students: “It is a measure to protect the health of the most vulnerable in order not to be deprived of the joys of social life during the winter, which we could consider in our country as well “.
Analytically and starting from the data of vaccination and based on the latest data, “in Greece until today, 75% of adults and 35% of minors 12 to 17 years old have chosen to be vaccinated. These percentages may not shield the entire population but they are certainly not negligible. Let me remind you that in special polls last year at such a time only 33% of adults said they would definitely be vaccinated. Therefore, let us not be leveling “, calls the Minister of State.
At the same time, however, he emphasizes, “we tried and succeeded in implementing a perfect vaccination campaign that literally re-introduced the Greek public to the citizens.” While he expresses his satisfaction because “in the last 11 days about 245,000 citizens have proved that there is no hard impenetrable line between vaccinated and unvaccinated, making their first dose. The dam of 7 million citizens is now very close. “But we have to go even higher than that to reduce the risks.”
At the same time, he acknowledges that other Western European countries have indeed achieved higher rates and are not facing the so-called “vaccine pandemic” with the same intensity – despite the relative seasonal upheaval that is taking place there as well. The trust in the institutions and the consensus that characterizes the political institutions there have helped significantly in this. At the same time, all Eastern European countries have much lower vaccination rates than we do. “We are somewhere in the middle with performances similar to other Central European countries, such as Germany and Austria, which are also currently experiencing a major surge in the 4th wave.”
In conclusion, “we are talking about a pandemic of the unvaccinated – even though they are sick and vaccinated – because the unvaccinated are the ones who are hospitalized in the ICU by 85-90%. This is a message to all vaccination skeptics. In other words, to see how much smoother the countries that achieved very high vaccination rates go through the 4th wave, especially at the age of over 60 “, is another element that testifies.
While to the question whether we should address more targeted citizens over 60 years ?, he answers: “Absolutely. We want the entire adult population to be vaccinated, but the problem in our country, as we have repeatedly said, is mainly found in 20% of citizens over 60, it is about 580,000 of our fellow citizens, who remain unvaccinated. “Because they are, based on all the data of hospitalizations, ICUs and deaths, the most vulnerable patients to the coronavirus”.
And in the language of numbers and examples, “in terms of hospitalization, vaccinating a 70-year-old is equivalent to vaccinating 31 younger people. Or, if we had managed today to be vaccinated instead of 80% 95% of the ages 60+, the heavy ICUs would be around 100 instead of 480. It is so important to insist on shielding this particular age group. “So the message to citizens over the age of 60 is to listen to the experts and protect their precious health even now.”
Regarding the booster dose and the international experience in it, “there are research data that show the decrease of antibodies after 6 months and at the same time recent data from Israel and the UK. showing that the booster third dose has very positive effects on further protection of the population and the health system. In both countries, thanks to the high participation of citizens in the third installment, cases and hospitalizations are declining. That is why the vaccinated people who have completed 6 months from their 2nd dose, and belong especially to the ages over 60 years, it is good to hurry to do the third dose “.
However, A. Skertsos points out one more thing: “Israel and France have gone one step further, linking the possibility of indoor access for the autumn-winter months with the third installment. It is a measure to protect the health of the most vulnerable in order not to be deprived of the joys of social life during the winter, which we could consider in our country as well “.
According to the Minister of State, “lockdown is not meant while we now have a vaccine and 3 out of 4 adults are vaccinated. The vaccine is safe and effective and acts as a catalyst for changing the pattern of management and coexistence with the pandemic. In addition, our schools operate without confluence since the beginning of the year thanks to self-tests and masks. “So we are learning to live with the virus without extreme restrictive measures.”
After all, “practically lockdown would be completely ineffective today because it is an unjustified and intolerable deprivation of liberty for vaccinated people. So it would not apply. In addition it would provide an alibi for the unvaccinated not to make the prudent choice of their personal protection through the vaccine. And of course it would be a recipe for disaster for the economy and social cohesion. Our strategy therefore remains the same, whoever makes the vaccine gains his freedom, while still adhering to the measures of personal protection. Frequent tests are necessary for the vaccinated especially during the winter and of course we never forget the mask which is a very effective measure to prevent transmission for vaccinated and unvaccinated “.
He laments the opposition’s stance because, he says, “he has not understood throughout the pandemic that public health issues are not conducive to micropolitics. The government received 557 ICUs from SYRIZA and today, thanks to the additions that have been made and continue to be made, has succeeded in more than doubling them, as a result of which we are in the European average ICU per 100,000 inhabitants. In Northern Greece, when Mr. Tsipras visited, the ICU was 143 during his days and today it is 278. Let us limit the irresponsibility that it costs. No health system is inexhaustible and in no case can the answer to the pandemic be the thousands of ICUs. The pandemic will be tackled and extinguished with the greatest possible vaccination coverage of the population and the observance of measures. “The opposition must turn its back on these”, is the call he addresses to her.
On the issue of obligation, he states the position that “it is said much more easily than it can be applied in practice. It can also be the last resort not horizontally but only in areas and activities with high spread of the virus. Above all, however, in order to have a practical effect, it must be linked to specific sanctions which should and can be imposed. “There is no voluntary obligation as perceived by the opposition.”
When asked, finally, about the measure of extension of the obligation, he clarifies that “in the field of catering it has not been applied anywhere in the world”. In addition, “what is being said about the rest of the civil servants has no practical counterpart nor will it have a significant immune effect as few remain unvaccinated and the problem as I told you is in the over 60s”.
For the uniformed people in particular, he wonders if “we would accept ELAS to operate e.g. with -20% police officers who can not be easily replaced due to the special training they must have, and thus lack the security of our neighborhoods? “As for the identity argument” an unvaccinated police officer cannot control vaccinated citizens “is as strong as” a police officer without a driving license cannot impose KOK sanctions “, he concludes.
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