There is no ‘unconditional’ Easter

“Citizens are being deprived of their freedom for yet another Easter,” main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said in a televised statement. Many citizens set out to prove him wrong yesterday, with an impressive exodus attempt: 13,680 vehicles left Attica over a period of 5.5 hours.

Regardless of whether moving is prohibited, regardless of fines, regardless of whether the checks have become – and will become – more stringent. There is nothing that can contain the mentality of “Easter in the village.”

Let us leave aside the low-hanging jokes and the sarcasm. There is one problem, and it is very serious: the low rates of vaccination in our country. As is clear, neither the number of intubated patients, nor the death toll, nor the great spread of variants are enough of an “argument.”

On the one hand, the government’s concern to persuade us that we are at “the end of this adventure,” with the constant heralding of “openings” that are impossible to live up to; on the other hand, the exhausting inability of the opposition to go a step further than simply saying, “It is all Mitsotakis’ fault.”

It levels contradictory accusations about the imposition or repealing or the non-imposition or the non-repealing of the same measure, obviously thinking that in the general confusion and fatigue caused by the pandemic, a denunciation is the only thing that counts.

And the vaccination? The coordinated cross-party campaign, the only media-friendly necessary attempt, is unnaturally underwhelming. In fact, at every opportunity, the opposition saws away at any foundations in the already frail vaccination drive. Between a government that speaks with many voices and the “single issue” opposition, the only result is the inflammation of many peoples’ intransigence and skepticism about the vaccines.

If the age groups over 60 keep refusing to get vaccinated, how can we hope that this will change with 30- and 40-year-olds? If the parents are refusing, will their children rush to get vaccinated? And while Alexis Tsipras loudly objects with “Just 7% of the population is vaccinated,” he does not say a word to urge citizens to trust in the scientific approach.

There is trench warfare over “Easter in the village” and the hospitality industry. There is no one stating that an “unconditional” Easter does not exist. Without vaccines, the Week of the Passions will be long-lasting.