HEALTH Secretary Sajid Javid has urged: “We’ve got the jabs, we just need the arms to put them in.”
His statement this week came after figures showed 1.5million people who were eligible for their third Covid jab hadn’t had it.
What he didn’t say is the reason they hadn’t. It’s not because people are lazy, scared or stupid.
It’s because the Government’s booster message has been weak. The rollout has been a shambles.
Our initial vaccines roll-out was the envy of the world. I remember feeling proud to be British when, on December 8 last year, 90-year-old gran Margaret Keenan from Coventry became the first person in the world to get the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
That meant we became the first country to start administering a fully trialled and tested vaccine.
We couldn’t wait to get it shoved in our arms. It was like a race against time to get double-jabbed and proudly boast about it on social media.
It was easy to be part of that race because there had been clear communication on why we must have the vaccine, how, where and when.
We all knew when our family and friends were having it, we were in this together.
But that strong message became muffled. Instead of continuing to bang the drum and tell people about the vital booster jab and how our immunity will dwindle without it, the Government lost their impetus. The war effort disappeared.
Instead of cranking the booster programme into action and getting people booked in, the well-oiled vaccination machine seized up.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson gave cringe- worthy jokes at the Tory conference and his newly appointed Minister for Vaccines and Public Health, Maggie Throup, stayed virtually silent.
The Government has become complacent. It’s not surprising many people believed the pandemic was pretty much over. Until this week, when the Government finally swung into action.
On Wednesday, after complaints that millions of eligible people couldn’t get an appointment, the NHS website allowed booster bookings for the first time.
By Friday, we were warned that next year’s foreign holidays could be cancelled if they don’t have that booster.
Then an advert aired, urging people to “get vaccinated, get boosted, get protected”.
The number of Covid cases reported in a day continues to rise, with the latest figure surpassing 50,000 for the first time since July.
One in five intensive care beds is occupied by a Covid patient.
Teens are unwittingly spreading it to elderly
The Government can’t say they weren’t warned. All they needed to do was look at Israel, which started a booster rollout in July because of rising Delta variant cases. The boosters worked.
Their Covid adviser, Professor Eran Segal, explained that, by month five or six after being jabbed, we are only 30 to 40 per cent protected.
So, because we were first out the gate, we should have been racing ahead with the boosters. But we are weeks behind.
The Government should have ensured GP surgeries were ready for the booster programme. Instead, many are not even giving the booster, as they can’t cope.
They should have kept the vast vaccination hubs open ready for the new rollout. Instead, many are now shut.
They should have made sure care home residents had the booster first.
Instead, just a third have been offered it, although many have been eligible for weeks.
And they should have got teenagers vaccinated quickly, just like they did in Spain.
Instead, one in 12 aged between 12 and 15 have Covid and are unwittingly spreading it like wildfire to the vulnerable and elderly.
They should have got organised, and even looked at the possibility of vaccinating after five months, just as Israel has done. Now we are in a rush and a panic.
“Plan B” would be everything our country really doesn’t need.
What we really need is the Government to get their act together, take responsibility and sort out a booster rollout that can make us proud again.
