Cyprus Mail
LettersOpinion

The loss of humanity in Cypriot society

Growing up in Cyprus, I remember how the institution of the family was always strong. I remember how we supported one another, neighbour standing by his/her neighbour whether it was just lending a hand or a shoulder to cry on. What I never remember happening is what we are witnessing today – turning against one another for a choice that is not even a choice anymore, but rather a threat. One person feeling wronged by the other and letting a small number of people, who just happened to have power, tell us how to treat each other.

As Cypriots, we should be united and not divided into factions of ‘vaccinated’ and ‘unvaccinated.’ I often hear these words and I really wonder what they mean. We are all vaccinated in one way or another since we’ve been inoculated with so many jabs before the ‘elixir’ that is the Covid-19 vaccine. We are also all unvaccinated since we have not all been inoculated with the same vaccines. For example, I have never had the flu shot and yet I’ve never been called “unvaccinated.” Most of us have not been inoculated with the yellow fever vaccine, unless we have travelled to specific countries, yet no one has called us “unvaccinated.”

So what is the different now?

Why such anger?

And most importantly, why do we turn against each other, just because we’ve been told this should be done?

Based on data and information available from the same pharmaceutical companies currently producing these Covid vaccines, they do not protect people against transmission but rather against serious disease.

So why aren’t ‘vaccinated’ people getting tested like the ‘unvaccinated’?

Aren’t they actually endangering others?

Shouldn’t everyone, out of personal responsibility, take precautions?

Is it really about public health anymore?

Why do we create false impressions about protecting our fellow citizens with vaccines when this is not really the case?

As individuals we have the ability to freely choose what we do with our bodies and how we manage our own lives. We can live in a way which suits our essence all the while respecting one other. In every big crisis, history has taught us that unity is what will make us victorious, not division. But unity does not mean that we all have to do the same, nor that we have to impose our views on others. It only means that we have to respect each other’s choices and support them, especially when confronted, not so much with an ‘invisible enemy’ but rather with the very visible enemy called authoritarianism.

It greatly saddens me to see people who’ve been vaccinated, of their own accord, applauding the government’s oppressive decisions, such as not subsidising Covid-19 tests for those who have not been vaccinated. It is equally saddening to see some ‘unvaccinated’ individuals attack those who have been vaccinated, calling them names and not respecting them.

Unfortunately, apart from the fact that in the same way that a ‘vaccinated’ person pays for the ‘unvaccinated’ person’s test, and the ‘unvaccinated’ pays for the ‘vaccinated’ person’s jab, it seems that our humanity and sense of social cohesion has been lost in a society which had those feelings in abundance.

As a free citizen, I would like someone to tell me a way to share my taxes between the two ‘factions’ because I respect and support the choices of my fellow citizens, regardless of my own views.

 

Angelika Solomonidou

Lawyer –EU & International Relations Expert

And above all a FREE PERSON

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