Athens puts pressure on the unvaccinated: “The skeptics convince”

Athens increases the pressure on vaccination skeptics. Nursing workers face suspension if they do not get vaccinated by August 16. The opposition thinks this is unfair.

A decision was actually only expected in the middle of the week. The fact that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the new measures in an early televised address on Monday shows how seriously the government assesses the situation.

The message: Athens is relying more than ever on vaccination in the fight against the pandemic. Prime Minister Mitsotakis emphasizes: “We have to give those vaccinated back their rights. And finally, convince those who are still skeptical.”

In Greece, vaccination is now mandatory for all employees in the elderly and care sector. Anyone who has not started the vaccination by August 16 will be suspended. From September onwards, the compulsory vaccination will be extended to all employees in the entire health care system, both in the public and in the private sector.

All employers have the right to know whether their employers have been vaccinated. To make this possible, the government will even change the law, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said at a press conference.

Fines of up to 200,000 euros

“By September 1st, all of these employees must be vaccinated with at least the first dose,” Kikilias clarifies. It is regulated by law so that the public institutions, the old people’s homes, the health facilities can quickly hire temporary staff to represent the unvaccinated. In addition, nursing homes and hospitals face fines between 50,000 and 200,000 euros if they violate the new regulations.

But the government is also increasing the pressure on unvaccinated citizens outside of the healthcare system: From Friday onwards, only vaccinated people will be allowed to stay in the interior of restaurants and cultural establishments.

However, restaurants or bars can decide whether they want to continue opening their outdoor areas to non-vaccinated people. And here, too, the companies are threatened with fines of between EUR 2,000 and EUR 5,000 as well as temporary closures if they violate the measures.

Much depends on August

One had hoped for a quiet summer, but in the past two weeks the picture has changed a lot, said Minister of Economics Adonis Georgiadis, explaining the measures.

“As for the economy, it is very important for Greece to continue to show that we are well organized and that we are a country that has the pandemic under control,” Georgiadis continued. Jobs can only be saved if August, the best month for the tourism industry, runs normally and companies can work smoothly.

Although the measures are drastic, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expects the support of the population. He is sure that a large part of society will agree to this decision. And he asked all political parties to support the vaccination requirement without reservation.

“A deeply poisoned and unfair program”

The left opposition party Syriza accuses Mitsotakis of dividing the country with this policy. The government is using the pandemic as an opportunity to push through a deeply poisoned and unfair program, party leader Alexis Tsipras said during an event in Thessaloniki. People should be persuaded to vaccinate on the basis of reason and arguments, and not on the basis of threats, bribery or coercion.

If the government has its way, 70 percent of the population should be fully vaccinated by the end of August.