Editorial: A threat to society

The revelations over the last few days regarding networks that forge certificates of COVID-19 vaccination or certificates that one has recovered from the disease, so that vaccine deniers could evade public health protocols that restrict their activities – ignoring the danger that they pose for themselves and the rest of society – are not only shocking and enraging.

They also illuminate the way a small, fortunately, number of our fellow citizens think and act.

For these people obviously the individual is above the collective. Their behaviour is at once deeply anti-social and undemocratic, because whoever scorns the need to abide by rules does not respect the cornerstone of our democratic form of government.

Precisely because the repercussions of these actions are not limited to public health, but also touch on the social contract to which we have all agreed, the state has a duty to fully shed light on these cases.

Moreover, the government is obliged to take all necessary measures in order to obstruct the illegal activity of these networks and to deter anyone who wants to break the law.

The state must be relentless and must not rule out imposing punishment that is tougher than simple disciplinary action on those proven to be implicated in the issuance and distribution of such documents.

The apparent extent of this phenomenon is already alarming. It poses a critical threat that must be confronted before social contacts shift to indoor spaces.