Statement of the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE

In a statement on the developments regarding the vaccination process, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, stressed the following:

“A few days ago, the vaccination process began, in a climate of complacency and excessive optimism cultivated by the government.

The KKE had stated from the beginning that this process would be long and should not provide an alibi so that the necessary shielding of the public health system and the protection measures in critical workplaces, in schools, means of transport, etc. would not proceed. Vaccines, although necessary to protect the health of the people from the pandemic, cannot replace the huge deficiencies in the public health system and preventive measures, especially in conditions of awaiting the 3^rd wave of the pandemic. More areas of the country have already turned “red” (i.e. are  high-risk areas), under the sole responsibility of the government, which has not taken any measures to ensure the protection of people's health.

We have also stated that Greece should not depend on the EU agreements with some pharmaceutical companies, which serve other purposes, and that there should be access to all available vaccines that are considered safe and effective, in order to have adequate vaccines and to timely achieve mass vaccination of the population. We demanded the public disclosure of the contracts signed by the EU with these companies.

The course of developments tragically confirms the assessments and positions of the KKE. The long delays in deliveries, the trade wars and the geopolitical competition, the privileged treatment of strong states at the expense of weaker ones, prove this.

It is confirmed that all these stem from the fact that vaccines and medicines are lucrative commodities, whose research, production, and distribution are subject to the profits and competitions of the big groups and the capitalist states.

And while this situation threatens the health and lives of the people, the government is promoting “vaccination certificates”, which in essence serve the interests of tourism and transport companies, while they can be used to make reductions in the necessary means of protection. There is the risk that the result from the uncontrolled opening of tourism last summer, without any preventive means such as tests, will be repeated”.

Referring to the proposal of the president of SYRIZA, he stated: “However, this cannot be tackled with wishes for the “acquisition of the patent”, which open a new vicious circle of bargains and agreements with pharmaceutical companies. The patent, which is directly linked to capitalist ownership, must be abolished. We highlight the need for a state socialized pharmaceutical industry and international cooperation to promote research, study, production of vaccines and medications.

This reality brings to the fore once again the blatant contradiction of our time: On the one hand the enormous leaps and achievements of science, technology, collective human labor, and on the other hand the appropriation of these achievements in order to increase the profits of business groups at the expense of popular needs, even of health and life. This is capitalism, the visible enemy that stands in the way of social progress and prosperity.”

2/2/2021