The president of the Madeiran executive, Miguel Albuquerque, assured this afternoon that “the Government does not retreat an inch from the decisions it has taken” to fight the pandemic, because “in the first place is human life and in second place is public health” .
In the first reaction to the demonstration held at the entrance to the Quinta Vigia, Albuquerque noted that “there was a sign there saying that the pandemic is a fraud” and exclaimed that in the face of such a message, he cannot “do anything”. “We live in a democracy. People are free to speak out and the Government has been elected to take decisions. These decisions are in line with the public interest and with the safeguard of public health”, said the chief executive.
Albuquerque underlined that “what is happening in Europe and in our country is the symptom” that the Regional Government acted “on time and with reason” in what it decided and, therefore, “they can manifest themselves whatever they want, there is no no change in the policies that have been established”. “The Government will do everything in its power to minimize the risks of this situation and ensure that people continue to live within a normality with clear rules regarding what is to safeguard public health,” he added.
Confronted with the content of some of the messages disseminated at the demonstration, Albuquerque recalled that “no one is forcing you to vaccinate”. “People who don’t want to get vaccinated don’t get vaccinated. The risk is theirs. Now there is an issue that needs to be made very clear. In certain situations there are public health restrictions that have to be safeguarded. There is no obligation to transmit diseases to other people. This is what cannot be tolerated”, concluded the official, who was speaking on the sidelines of the presentation session of the data center of the Emacom company, of the Madeira Electricity Company group.