The last mile toward transcending the travails wrought by the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Greece feels long but it is crucial.

Everything can be overturned at the last minute and the National Health System, and hence our very lives, can be torpedoed with unforeseeable consequences.

The difference now is that we have tools and weapons that are capable of confronting the huge public health challenge and of safeguarding the restart of tourism and our daily lives.

Personal and collective responsibility are now overlapping at a critical juncture and there must be no complacency at either level.

The scenes over the weekend in public squares and beaches demonstrate that people have reached their limits, but one should under no circumstances underestimate the threat posed by the virus by being irresponsible or cynical.

Aside from discipline on the part of the public, the key to success is expediting the vaccination rollout.

Bold steps have been taken. Vaccination centres are operating in full swing and by all accounts the process has been going exceptionally well.

Yet it still must be expedited because that is necessary in order to build a wall of defence and immunity without which the National Health System cannot endure and lives, especially those of people in vulnerable groups, cannot be saved.

The vaccination process must under no circumstances be accompanied by laxity as the path to exiting the tunnel is like a chain and we must carefully take one step at a time.

Because Greek Easter is around the corner, the government must swiftly devise a tight, well-organised plan that will clearly lay out the necessary measures and dangers as well as the necessary sacrifices that people must still make.

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