There is uproar among the hundreds of people who became homeless following the earthquake of 6 Richter on Crete, as the provisional shelters setting up are reportedly only for people who have been vaccinated against the Covid-19.
According to local media,authorities are setting up shelters to accommodate earthquake victims in Arkalochori in view of temperature decrease and rainfalls forecast in the upcoming days.
One of these shelter is the closed basketball court where homeless victims or those currently in tents should be moved in to be protected from cold and rain.
However, according to exclusive information obtained by cretapost, accommodation in the indoor basketball court will not be allowed for unvaccinated citizens even if they have lost their home due to the earthquake.
At yesterday’s meeting of the competent authorities it was decided that the protocols concerning the closed common areas will be observed by the book, even under these special conditions.
“The existing instructions provide that a mixed adult population [vaccinated and unvaccinated] cannot enter a common area even in these special conditions. At the moment, what has been said is that indoors there will initially be vaccinated people with a rapid test “, vice-governor of public health and social policy, Lambros Vamvakas, told cretapost.
He added exception is only for people who immediately receive the single-shot vaccine, after a negative rapid test.
Earthquake victims express strong concern
Earthquake victims currently living in tents and are not vaccinated express strong concerns.
“What are we going to do? Where will we go? Will we stay in the rain and cold?” they ask and receive no answer.
There are families with only two vaccinated members and who do not want to be separated.
“Those in charge must stop making this distinction, especially when there are special circumstances. At the moment we are not talking about whether we can go for a coffee indoors, we are talking about how to protect ourselves from the cold and the rain since we do not have a home to stay,” a mother of two stressed. “Shouldn’t there be care for us as well?” she added.
Rooms in hotels
One of the solutions the authorities seek is rooms in hotels or the houses from the ESTIA program for refugees.
“A family that will be hosted at a home or in a hotel room does not need to be vaccinated as it does not come in contact with many people,” Vamvakas sad adding the the vaccinated/unvaccinated distinction is for closed common areas.
He assured that no family is going to be left homeless and that is why all the competent bodies are working in this direction.
No infections in quake camps
It is worth noting that the rapid tests that are being carried out at earthquake victims by EODY units are continuous.
According to information from cretapost, so far, no positive Covid-19 case has been found.
More information on the devastating 6R earthquake on Crete here.
PS the decision is anything but scientific as a vaccinate with single-shot needs several weeks to develop antibodies as the case is with other vaccines. Will people be not allowed to go outside the basketball court? How about the children (no vaccination program yet) or the teenagers? No school classes for them?
My cat alleges that authorities use the earthquake disaster to increase pressure to get people receive vaccination. But she is just a cat (and fully vaccinated.)
SHAME ON GREECE AND GREEKS!! Boycott Greece!! Cruel, Unchristian….
It’s like I’m here in Switzerland watching a bad movie. That movie’s called Greece. 😞
SHAME to read this. I live in the area within 18Km and it is raining now. They are not watching a basketball game there. Unbelievable bureaucracy . SHAME
What is next? A button on your clothes with “vaccinated” or “not vaccinated”? SHAME SHAME
Perhaps Clemens you are right. Everything seems to be headed this way. This is inhuman and amoral. What a disgrace for the country!
You used the word – competent – to describe the authorities. You forgot the prefix “in” which is really what describes these individuals.
A country run by monkies !!!
The lunatics have escaped the asylum.
Whilst I sympathise with and completely understand the dismay being expressed at this decision, sometimes in life you have to do what’s best rather than what feels right. When you’re dealing with any problem, whether large or small, the first thing you should always ensure is that you don’t make things worse.
If an unvaccinated people were allowed to mix in such a closed environment it would take only one asymptomatic carrier of COVID to infect them all. You may well end up with more people sick and dying from COVID than from the earthquake.
Yes, the earthquake was a major disaster but now it’s over and we can pick up the pieces. COVID is just as big a disaster however, and it’s still happening. It would be a mistake of Biblical proportions to make the COVID disaster worse because of a natural human desire to allow all earthquake victims into the same closed space.
Sometimes you have to look past the end of your nose and see the bigger picture. Nobody is suggesting here that unvaccinated people will be left homeless, all that is being done is that unvaccinated people are being house in hotel rooms or special housing where they won’t come into contact with each other as much.
I have said repeatedly on here that everyone has the right to choose not to be vaccinated. But all choices have consequences and choosing not to be vaccinated can sometimes have unpleasant consequences – like not being allowed into the same locations as your vaccinated relatives and friends.