You didn’t know, didn’t you ask? Lately, there has been a lot of talk about vaccinated and unvaccinated people and what these two categories of people are ultimately entitled to do. It seems that those who are vaccinated will have some more benefits.
So who can we go for a coffee, a drink… or go into a restaurant?
Are the groups splitting up and now, willingly or unwillingly, are the new guidelines urging you to only hang out with your peers? How will incoming visitors to a shop be checked? How will the customer know if a particular store is COVID free or mixed? What are our rights and what are our obligations?
We have heard, read and rushed to conclusions, for many…. but what is really true?
The government, in order to inform us, has issued a handy guide of twenty questions and answers about “Operation Freedom – Building the Wall of Immunity”!!!
1. Can catering, entertainment and sports venues with unvaccinated all employees become covid-free? In that case, what will happen to unvaccinated workers (especially younger workers who have not yet had the vaccine)?
Workers in catering and entertainment establishments must wear a mask and gloves and undergo tests. However, the criterion that differentiates customers from employees is the essential nature of the activity, so that it can be supported as a matter of law. For customers it is entertainment, for employees it is an absolutely essential survival activity. Therefore, business operators certainly have the right to regulate strict health rules within the company (e.g. regular tests, enhanced protection masks, etc.) and to arrange the way their employees work, so as not to jeopardise the pure use as a vaccination area.
2. How will the inbox be checked?
The check at the entrance will be done with a digital application which will confirm the authenticity of the vaccination or infection certificate (in covid-free areas) and the tests in mixed areas (rapid test or PCR). It will be ready in the first ten days of July so that from 15/7 when the closed meeting places open they can choose whether to increase their capacity to become pure spaces. The application will be free of charge and will be downloadable from gov.gr.
3. Can a business have mixed outdoor and pure indoor use? When can it be changed every time?
Yes, it can have a discrete use. However, the change of use can be done once.
4. The measures will make it difficult for couples, families and groups to go out together if not everyone is vaccinated.
The government urges all citizens to get vaccinated immediately, unless there are medical reasons not to do so. Yes, the answer is that recreation, associated with increased mobility, will be easier for vaccinated citizens and more difficult for unvaccinated citizens. However, couples, families and groups will be able to travel together in mixed dining and entertainment areas which means that vaccinated people will need to show their vaccination certificate or certificate of infection and unvaccinated people will need to show their test result (rapid PCR).
5. Will unvaccinated minors be able to enter vaccine-only areas?
In enclosed areas, i.e. theatres and cinemas, restaurants, cafes and stadiums, minors must present a self-test declaration signed by their parents.
6. How will the customer know if a particular store is COVID free or mixed?
There will be special signage at the entrances of the holding premises (covid-free or mixed area) with specific reference to whether the staff of the holding is also vaccinated.
7. How will shopkeepers/premises owners be covered against customers who may object?
They will call on the authorities to take action.
8. Why not create spaces only for vaccinated people and only for unvaccinated people?
Although vaccination is the most powerful “weapon” against coronavirus, according to scientists, it is not mandatory. Consequently, the State could not make such a distinction, impose such a distinction. Therefore, with the exception of stadiums, due to their specificity (close contacts, voices and therefore easy spread of the virus), in all other places it will be the owner/operator’s choice whether to make the place pure or mixed.
9. On which platform will businesses declare their use of choice?
This declaration by entrepreneurs will be made on the ERGANI platform.
10. Will there be a cost for using the digital application for identity checks?
No cost. It’s an application that they will download on their mobile phones.
11. Why only rapid test or PCR in mixed sites and not self-tests? Don’t we trust them?
There is no question of validity but of confirmation of the truth of the declaration by an independent third party as it is a non-essential activity so the risk of false declaration is higher. The check will be done through the digital application.
12. How will a client who wishes to enter a pure or mixed space be treated, even though they do not meet the requirements for entry to the space (certificate or test result)?
The business must point out to him/her that by law he/she is not allowed to enter the store and if he/she insists, the business must, without delay, notify the authorities (e.g. ELAS) in order to impose the relevant sanctions on the offender. If the company fails to do so, it bears full responsibility.
13. What will be the fines for businesses and customers who do not comply with the rules?
There will be a specific framework of severe sanctions to be announced next week that will apply to both traders and customers.
14. How will the closed restaurants work from 15 July if they are pure? (with or without mask for customers? Will the use of air-conditioning be allowed if it is indoors?)
In covid-free catering and cafés there will be no obligation for customers to wear masks. This obligation will apply to spectators in theatres and cinemas. Workers in these companies will be obliged to wear them. As for the air-conditioning, it will operate normally in all the pure areas.
15. What will be the maximum occupancy of outdoor seated entertainment areas – other than stadiums – when the area can accommodate more than 15,000 seated persons?
There will be a maximum occupancy limit of 15,000.
16. Will outdoor and indoor entertainment centres serve standing customers or only seated customers? Will they be able to dance?
Vaccine-only businesses will also serve standing customers and dancing will be allowed. This is also the reason why a lower maximum occupancy rate is foreseen for these areas.
17. Will the measures also apply to tourists, some of whom will have come to Greece for several days with a negative test and without necessarily being vaccinated?
Of course, what applies to Greek citizens will also apply to tourists. Vaccinated foreign visitors will also be required to show certificates of vaccination or infection and certificates of negative tests, depending on which room they are in.
18. Are the measures a policy of dividing society? Do they lead to discrimination against citizens (vaccinated and unvaccinated) and unequal treatment?
Not only do they not divide society, but on the contrary they contribute to social cohesion and public health as the response to the pandemic concerns the whole of society. It is the duty of the State to ensure that the social good of health is valid for all. It is a complementary strategy that includes specific measures to encourage vaccination so that we can achieve the immunity wall as soon as possible. To formulate them, the government worked with the Bioethics Committee and the Committee of Infection Specialists. The pandemic may be in remission, but we should not be complacent as the battle with coronavirus is not over. Only vaccinated citizens are safe. The obvious is being done, both in terms of the rule of law and in terms of health: vaccinated citizens are being returned to normality, enjoying the rights they have been deprived of for 16 months. Public health rules for unvaccinated persons are maintained.
19. Do the measures lead to a violation of personal data and individual freedoms, do they infringe the principle of the dignity of citizens?
The government is also working closely with the Data Protection Authority, which is a Constitutional Independent Authority. The authenticity of the vaccination certificate will be verified through a digital application, no records will be kept. The authenticity of the digital or paper certificate of vaccination or infection presented will simply be verified and that’s it. The measures will be implemented in full respect of the legislation on data protection and of course the rights of all citizens.
20. Is the burden of public health care being shifted from the state to business?
There is an urgent need to build the predicted wall of immunity to the required “height” that – according to scientists – will protect us from mutations and a possible new wave of the pandemic. It will allow the smoothest possible return to economic activity and social activity, as we have experienced it and as we want it. So it is in the interest of business people to contribute to this nationwide effort to convince our reluctant citizens to get the vaccine. It is a good practice that has been applied abroad (United States, France, Denmark) and has worked. The State will do its job, but businesses have an obligation to comply with these public health measures so that they can continue to operate smoothly.
