What to Do?
My wife and I don’t know what to do.
We’ve never been involved or interested in politics. We don’t like to fight. And we don’t want publicity. We like our privacy.
Can’t Talk to Officials.
I’ve tried to meet with government officials to explain our situation.
However, they won’t meet with us because we’re not vaccinated.
The Opportunity Pass is required to enter the offices where they work. As non-holders of the Pass, my wife and I aren’t allowed to go inside to meet them.
I suggested we could instead meet outside. But they won’t agree to go outside to meet us.
So we have no way to meet the relevant government officials to discuss our situation.
No Legal Options.
We have no chance in court if we sue. The judges in our country support the vaccine mandates. There is some judiciary review about the details of certain restrictions – for example if it’s legal under current law to cut off sickness benefits of the unvaccinated. But by and large, the court system finds that the mandates do not violate any rights.
As for higher appeals, our only option would be the EU courts, but we think we don’t have any chance there either. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled in a case in April this year by 16-1 that obligatory vaccination is legal in democratic society if national authorities determine that mandates accomplish “a pressing social need”.
Constant Tests to Maintain Freedom?
In theory, we could do tests every day in a private lab in order to maintain our freedoms. But in our case, it won’t work.
We can’t afford to do PCR tests every 1-2 days. Together, my wife and I earn about 3000 eur per month. We calculate that the testing for both of us necessary to have the Pass for workdays only, not on weekends, would cost around 1500 eur per month, or half our income. Plus more than an hour of time each day to go to the lab, wait, do the test, and leave.
A change in the rules to allow antigen tests reduces our cost to 500 eur per month. That amount is on the limit for us: we could afford it if we reduce our food budget, cease savings, and eliminate most expenditures other than housing, utilities, taxes/fees, and necessary transportation.
Move Countries?
We’ve thought of moving countries to somewhere less restrictive, but it would be difficult.
There aren’t many countries to choose from.
Since my wife and I both speak English and want our children to learn the language, the restriction-free parts of the U.S. might be a possibility. But we can’t because we don’t have visas for America.
Within Europe, most countries have restrictions, so a move wouldn’t improve our situation.
The main restriction-free countries in Europe now are Denmark and Sweden. As EU citizens, we could legally move there and live in those places. But it would be difficult. Both my wife and I have jobs that are tied to our country and language, so if we move, we’d have to start from zero to find work in a country where we have no job skills, no connections, and no knowledge of the language. Additionally, Denmark and Sweden are expensive countries; our savings would only pay for the moving expenses and the first 2-3 months, so we’d have to find jobs quickly. Such a move would be a huge change for our children which we don’t want to inflict on them.
And there’s no guarantee that the governments of those countries won’t impose new Covid Pass restrictions in the future.
Our Home
Most importantly, we don’t want to move.
We love where we live. It’s our home, our culture, our language, our nature. We’re not important people, but we have deep roots in the area: both my family and my wife’s family have lived here for hundreds of years. We’re part of this place. We want to continue to raise our children here. We don’t want to leave.
So what will we do?
Honestly, we don’t know. We really don’t know.
COVID Pass in Other EU Countries
I’ve shown the details of the Covid Pass in my country of Lithuania because that’s where I live and what I know best.
We’re definitely one of the more restrictive countries in Europe right now. And some of the rules we have are uniquely crazy.
But we’re not the only one with a Covid Pass. By my count, 14 of the 27 European Union countries have begun imposing domestic Covid Pass restrictions. Here’s a sample of a few of those countries, showing in which situations they are requiring the Covid Pass as well as a link to an official government site with the details:
- Austria
Restaurants. Hotels. All indoor and outdoor events. All leisure and sports facilities, both indoors and outdoors.
Age limit: 12 and over. In the capital of Vienna, the age limit is 6.
(source) - Cyprus
Restaurants, cafes, bars. Churches and other religious services. Outdoor and indoor events. Shopping centers and department stores. Funerals, weddings, baptisims. Indoor leisure and sports. Hotels.
Age limit: 12 and over.
(source) - France
Restaurants, cafes, bars. Shopping malls. Hospitals except for emergency care. Retirement homes and residential care homes. Long-distance travel by plane, train, or bus. Campsites and other holiday accommodation.
Age limit: 12 and over.
In addition to the above restrictions for the entire population, the Covid Pass is mandatory for all workers and staff in medical fields and in public-facing service jobs such as restaurants, bars, and tourism.
(source) - Italy
Restaurants, bars, cafes for indoor dining. Intercity travel by plane, train, ship, ferry, or bus. All outdoor and indoor public events, including sporting events. Museums and shows. Swimming pools, gyms, spas, fitness centers. Weddings. Festivals and trade fairs. Conventions.
Age limit: 12 and over.
In addition to the above restrictions for the entire population, vaccination is mandatory for all medical workers since July. At the start of September, the Prime Minister said that his government could expand this mandate to the entire population, making vaccinations compulsory for all citizens once the European Medical Agency (EMA) gives full approval to the vaccines.
(source) - Portugal
Restaurants on weekends (starting Fridays at 19:00) and on holidays. Hotels, tourist apartments. Group classes in gyms. Weddings and baptisms with more than 10 people.
Age limit: 12 and over.
(source)
On the other hand, there are European countries with no domestic Covid Pass restrictions, for example, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Romania, and Sweden. They all have different Covid restrictions – masks, capacity limits, curfews – but no Covid Pass for domestic use.
Note that the measures above refer to domestic regulations.
For travel, every European country currently limits cross-border travel based on vaccination/Covid Pass status.
To be continued…