Final Word from Monday, December 6, 2021
The incoming government of Petr Fiala has vowed repeatedly to abolish the vaccine mandate for those aged 60 and above, if the Babiš cabinet does indeed approve it today, but the nine-month time validity of full vaccination will apparently stand. That's a European recommendation, after all. It means that at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, hundreds of thousands of people will go from being fully vaccinated to unvaccinated and will remain so until they get a specially approved booster shot. With each passing day, more people will then become covid nonpersons. Just as Y2K was a nightmare as the turn of the century approached, Y3D brings new uncertainty for restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses that are already devastated by covid restrictions. How many more potential customers will they lose? What will the conversion rate of the fully vaccinated be? Will Czechs shrug their shoulders and get a booster, or will the required third shot be the start of general unrest? [ Czech Republic Andrej convert EU Union Year 2000 millennium bug ]
Glossary of difficult words
vaccine mandate - a government order to get inoculated;
to stand - to remain in effect;
stroke - the sound made by a striking clock;
nonperson - a person regarded as non-existent or unimportant, or as having no rights; an ignored or forgotten person;
Y2K - year 2000 (with reference to the millennium bug);
conversion rate - (in this context) the percentage of people who get a booster shot after their fully vaccinated status expires;
unrest - a state of dissatisfaction, disturbance and agitation, typically involving public demonstrations or disorder.