To vaccine or not to vaccine, that is the question.
For some, it isn’t a matter of debate. Many of us are rolling up our sleeves, lurching towards our local Covid vaccination hubs, elbowing the grannies and the diabetics out of our way as we do so, proffering bare arms and thirstily proclaiming, “gimme gimme gimme”.
Certain British publications are labelling the roll-out “V-Day” which may or may not be considered a gross insult to the men that fought in the trenches, depending on your personal taste for hysterical hyperbole. Matt “Door Matt” Hancock, the UK’s long-suffering Health Minister, wept live on television as the romantically-named William Shakespeare (you can’t make this up), 91, stood second in line to receive the jab. “It’s been such a tough year for so many people and there’s William Shakespeare putting it simply for everybody that we can get on with our lives”. He told another news service “we will look back on today, V-Day, as a key moment in our fight back against this terrible disease, and I am proud our health services across the United Kingdom are about to embark on our largest ever vaccination programme.”
“It’s been such a tough year for so many people and there’s William Shakespeare putting it simply for everybody that we can get on with our lives” – Matt Hancock MP
Britain is the first country in the world to give the approved Covid-19 vaccination which is an almighty feat given the expense and expanse of the race to get an inoculation approved. After a rough ride, this good news good not be more welcome. The nation breathed a collective sigh of relief as finally, the light at the end of the tunnel began to flicker in Coventry yesterday. The jab will undoubtedly bring reassurance to people who have been rendered fearful of social engagement due to the proliferation of the virus and the government’s chaotic response. Yes, it looks like you might be able to hug your granny in time for Christmas!
Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition, has called for the government to “counter dangerous, frankly life-threatening disinformation about vaccines”, going so far as to suggest financial penalties for companies that “fail to act”. He asked the Conservative government how they are going to go about this.
People asking … probing questions are damned as “anti-vaxxers” and dismissed with “anti-maskers”, “Brexiteers”, “lockdown sceptics” and other holders of unofficial opinions.
“We are working to tackle all kinds of disinformation across the internet”, answered Boris Johnson. The Prime Minister’s non-committal non-response response may have brought comfort to those questioning exactly what “financial penalties for companies that fail to act” might entail.
Public confidence in the vaccination is indeed an issue and people are right to question the potential consequences of pumping this new concoction into their veins. It is seemingly taboo to do so: one question on people’s lips is “will the vaccine make me infertile?” (government guidance: “It is unknown whether COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 has an impact on fertility.”). What are the side effects? (We’ll see, but two NHS workers reported “adverse reactions” to the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine on Tuesday, described as showing symptoms of “anaphylactoid reaction”. This is only two out of thousands who received the jab, but it is nonetheless of note.) People asking similar reasonable and probing questions are damned as “anti-vaxxers” and dismissed with “anti-maskers”, “Brexiteers”, “lockdown sceptics” and other holders of unofficial opinions.
So where has our sense of enquiry gone? We are the nation of Bertrand Russell, John Stuart Mill, Isaac Newton. Home to many of the world’s greatest thinkers and writers and artists and statesmen who have made their names on their sense of enquiry, their determination to seek truth – or the truth as they believe it to be. We are tolerant, we are diverse, we are the first nation in the world to issue an approved Covid-19 vaccine! So how, despite all of this and so much more, have we lost our sense of enquiry?
Constance Watson is assistant editor of the Catholic Herald. She also contributes to the Spectator, Standpoint, Literary Review, the Oldie and others.
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