FIRST IN THE QUEUE ?

I`ve promised not to write about the corona virus, as such, so I`ll keep to that promise.  However, I can`t help noticing the effect the pandemic is having on people - certainly here in the good ol` U of K and possibly throughout the world.

It seems to me that the last year has brought out the very best in most people but also the less agreeable in others.  As for the vaccination rollout I have been lucky enough to have had the first of my two jabs a few weeks ago and I now wait the call for the second one.   

What impressed me on my visit to our local GP Surgery, which is acting as a vaccination centre for a number of GP practices in the wider area, was the efficiency by which the whole thing was conducted but arguably the most heartening thing was the army of volunteers who gave up their time and acted as marshals for those `patients` attending - most of whom were, like me, in their 80s and a probably a bit uncertain as to the process.  To give up your free time to help others, standing around in quite dreadful weather conditions was truly impressive.  So thank you to all those involved.

Just recently, however, there has been a good deal of speculation as to who should be next in line to have the jab, despite the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommending a trickle down programme from the oldest and most vulnerable to younger age groups and certain categories of workers and those with genuine underlying health issues.  The Government accepted the JCVI advice and acted accordingly and it seems they are going to stick by the professional advice they received, which sounds eminently sensible. 

But that hasn`t stopped all kinds of people and various groups claiming priority treatment to have the vaccination and, in effect, jump the queue.  I wonder how many of those claims are genuine and deserve consideration or how many are what they seem - the result of impatience, assumed entitlement or further examples of the `me, me society` we see all around us these days.   

It will be instructive to discover where our true priorities really lie and whether the Government is up to the task.