Email
February 19
The UK government has acted correctly in buying vast quantities of Covid-19 vaccines.
After double vaccination of the UK population, perhaps the UK government should consider ensuring that its citizens living abroad are Covid-19 vaccinated especially those living in the EU and other vaccine deficient countries.
Many British expat pensioners are compelled to pay UK taxes and, so could be considered to be entitled to UK Covid-19 vaccination, after all, non-tax paying illegal immigrants can obtain free vaccination.
At present, the UK government gives Spain about €2000 for each of its pensioners with a SIP card.
The British government could donate some of its excess vaccines to Spain, specifying that initially the vaccines should be used to protect British expat pensioners.
Besides, the government will want to rid itself of the outdated, original vaccines in favour of the new, improved variant vaccines.
Perhaps consular and embassy staff could request vaccine donation by the UK to Spain?
In normal times, one can buy flu and other vaccines in Spanish pharmacies but this season it is impossible to purchase either flu or Covid-19 vaccines.
British expat pensioners look on with envy at the speed and efficiency of UK Covid-19 vaccination.
As an ex-microbiologist, I think that this is the only successful anti-Covid-19 strategy by the British government.
Their other measures have been applied too late, have been inadequate and largely unenforced.
The most successful anti-Covid 19 campaigns have occurred in dictatorial countries, island states and in countries with female controlled governments.
The island of a Great Britain should have closed access in and out of the country at the end of January 2020 whilst Covid-19 was an epidemic in Wuhan, China and relied on tried and tested public health practices rather than being influenced by computer models.
Also, early stage coercion of the public to adopt strict sanitary procedures, to wear surgical grade face masks and to use social distancing and isolation would have been advantageous.
Had the British government promptly adopted all of these measures then the numbers of Covid-19 cases and deaths would have been kept to a minimum.
However, one cannot ignore the costly consequences of obesity, bad diet, diabetes, poor physical fitness, lack of personal responsibility for health and genetic predisposition to Covid-19 of many people in the UK.
Irene M. Hiscock
