For the third weekend in a row thousands of protesters have turned out in the birthplace of Western democracy, Athens, to protest against mandatory vaccinations. The Greek protesters have said that they do not qualify themselves as anti-vaccine, as many people like to call them, but that the situation is much more in depth than simply pro or against vaccines.
Many people throughout Greece are pushing back against the order by Greece’s Prime Minister who is ordering mandatory vaccination, specifically for healthcare workers. Those workers say that they should not be forced to be vaccinated.
This weekend, thousands turned out in front of a Parliament building in Athens, waving flags and chanting “No” to vaccine passports, also known in Europe as the “Green Pass.”
This is called the “Free Again” movement in Greece. In their last gathering about 5000 people gathered to say “No” to the Greek Prime Minister who is saying all health care workers should be vaccinated.
So far, about 41% of all Greeks have been vaccinated against the virus, that means less than half of the population has taken the jab. This is not because of a lack of access to the vaccine, in fact, in most cases many of the protesters say they know how they can take the vaccine; they just don’t want to.
A man by the name of Faidon Vovolis, in one of the protests said “…this is not an anti-vaccine movement, these are people that have thought about it and want their freedom.”
These protesters are not against a vaccine – experimental or not. What they are clearly against is being forced to take it.
Their plight is of enormous importance for our age. It raises questions all across the world when it comes to medical freedom, a topic which for the most part has not reached the population at large. Should people be forced and compelled to be vaccinated in a free society? And if they are forced, despite their wants and personal needs, is it really a free and democratic society? Many Greeks and other protesting around Europe say no.
