Unvaccinated staff force others to take up the slack

Power notes that the Austrian/German option of mandatory vaccination for all may be an “efficient” option. The last time Austria and Germany insisted on similar mandatory health policies monitored with a “Gesundheitspass” (health pass) was in the 1930s and that did not end well.

Power’s vituperation is divisive and unhelpful and will do more to increase vaccine hesitancy than reduce it. She should back off.
Garrett Connolly
Clontarf, Dublin 3

Hiding behind my mask
I am unvaccinated and therefore considered a pariah within my family, thanks in no small measure to commentary by the media which categorises me as belonging to a selfish minority.

My reason for being hesitant to receive this vaccine is simple: I have become overwhelmed by the tsunami of information and misinformation that has driven this pandemic. I had not realised that being unsure equated to selfishness, but I guess this is the new normal.

This year, there will be no home-baked cakes crossing the country from our house, no visitors or delighted squeals of children to brighten these dark days of winter.

I will continue to count my blessings, however. I have discovered that wearing a mask can be a positive thing — apart from hiding a multitude of wrinkles it allows me to natter away contentedly to myself, without anyone being any the wiser.
C Kilcoyne Rushbrooke, Cobh

Selfish colleagues
My wife, a nurse, who works in a care of the elderly facility, cannot comprehend how some HSE colleagues continue in their roles despite refusing to take the vaccine. The right not to get vaccinated should not be at the cost of putting others at risk or curtailing access to services, such as ICU beds.
Peadar Ó Seitheacháin
Carraig Thuathail, Co Chorcaí

Coercive measures
With regard to coercive measures and the removal of rights from the unvaccinated, governments don’t even have recourse to the dubious argument that it’s for the greater good as we now know that the vaccinated can also transmit the virus.

I keep making the argument to vaccine zealots that people can exercise their right to abstain from taking medications due to the risks of side effects, but that many governments now believe this right should be removed solely with regard to Covid vaccines.

There is no compelling moral argument why Covid vaccines fall into an exceptional category that warrants the state using coercion. That applies whether it be direct (vaccine mandates) or indirect (segregation and removal of rights) to force its citizens to reluctantly take a medicine they would otherwise refuse.
Andrew Devine
Westport, Co Mayo

Dangerous step
David Quinn’s piece on the hazards of what he calls “health totalitarianism” is a timely reminder for the Irish citizenry to pause and reflect on where we are going (Comment, last week). Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of history should have felt a shudder down their spine when they first heard whispers about “mandatory vaccination”. Whatever might be gained would be immediately offset by the loss of the communal unity we need. Many of us may not agree with those who have chosen to remain unvaccinated, but taking steps beyond “encouragement” is simply too dangerous to consider.
Paul O Sullivan
Raheen, Limerick

Impartiality was never on the page
Like seeking objectivity in the discipline of history, media impartiality is a fallacy (“Journalism can cope with the fiendishness of Farage”, Media Player, Culture, last week). The very structure of media outlets (print and broadcast) means that which topics are featured, and in what order, is based on the subjective choices of editors and the resulting coverage reflects their decisions.

According to John Burns, “journalism’s job is to describe the world, not change it”. But just look at the media’s support of campaigns in Ireland in recent years, and one can observe they were central to the outcome. The Sunday Times’s current Dying with Dignity campaign is the latest to contribute to social change. What is apparent is that the media have moved on from describing social issues to determining them.
Michael Egan, Dublin 6

Little balance in media
In terms of Irish journalism, the “horse” of impartiality has well and truly bolted. Notwithstanding Jon Williams’s laudable mission statement, finding balance on RTE is no easy task, or for that matter in the generally left-leaning Irish media.

At least Americans have choice in terms of their preferred viewpoint, one sadly lacking for Irish citizens.
David Chaney
Navan, Co Meath

Farage given credibility
While my politics is the polar opposite to that espoused by Nigel Farage, I was appalled by the way Claire Byrne interviewed him recently on RTE. Instead of testing his views with thoughtful questions, the blithe dismissal simply gave him credibility.

I have serious concerns about how several of RTE’s star interviewers question politicians in general. Rather than seeking clarification on issues, some interviewers harangue politicians, seeking a “gotcha” answer. I believe this kind of populist journalism is undermining the credibility of our democracy and the consequences of this really alarm me.

I am all for holding ministers to account but please do it in a way that clarifies rather than confuses. Public affairs programmes are about issues and not about giving the presenter an opportunity to demonstrate how clever or macho they are.
Pat O’Mahony
Newbridge, Co Kildare

Not worth the attention
Why would anyone want to interview Farage anyway? He never became an MP, was thrown out of the “leave” movement and started his own chaotic Brexit party. He did manage to get elected as an MEP, but attended the European parliament only to disrupt proceedings, and now hosts a programme on a third-rate TV news channel watched by an average of 30,000 viewers. Howard Stanley
Halstead, Essex

Deny him airtime
Farage is a populist and his stock in trade is to stir up emotional reactions in his audience, so his speeches are crafted to do just that.

It has to be acknowledged that he has virtually singlehandedly woven jingoistic strands into Anglo-British politics. This was instrumental in galvanising a seismic anti-European swing, one that fuelled Brexit and the referendum. His closest political allies in Westminster were the DUP and European Research Group of Conservative eurosceptics, neither of whom considered the costs of Brexit to Ireland.

He thrives on the oxygen of publicity — and it should be denied to him, in the same way that Margaret Thatcher denied it to Gerry Adams.
Joseph Mullen
Eastbourne, East Sussex

Some countries resist western jab
The WHO, along with some commentators and politicians, claims there is a global shortage of vaccines and chastises us for not supplying vulnerable countries before giving boosters to our own populations. Your article “We have enough jabs. The challenge now is using them” (News Review, last week) challenges that assumption. It confirms my own view that many African countries are reluctant to use vaccines, having an innate suspicion of any health advice from western countries.

For some time I was involved with overseas students. In the context of the Catholic church’s ban on contraceptives in the fight against Aids, some African students expressed the view that western governments were supplying faulty condoms for the purpose of damaging their country.

Africa needs vaccines. Because of the spread of population over vast areas, the continent needs help in administering them. Let richer countries give Africa the help it needs, but be aware that antivaxers there will be harder to deal with than in western countries.
Áilín Doyle
Corr Castle, Dublin 13

Africa starved of doses
Africa has been starved of doses for nearly a year. Far from stockpiling as you suggest, South Africa has administered 91 per cent of the doses it has received, a similar rate to the UK.

When sub-Saharan Africa has received only enough doses to vaccinate one in eight people, don’t report the deadly supply crisis as over. It is an insult to those of us whose loved ones are health workers, or clinically vulnerable and remain unvaccinated.
Tian Johnson,
African Union’s Vaccine Delivery Alliance, Johannesburg

Patients’ wishes must come first
Doctors are trained to help people live but seem unable to accept or understand that there comes a time in life when a person is ready and wants to die (“Dying with Dignity”, News, last week).

My father-in-law had multiple conditions including mesothelioma and, while in hospital to have his diabetes controlled, had a heart attack. His notes had been marked “Do Not Resuscitate” but a crash team arrived and “saved him” for a further five (for him) miserable months.

When will medical training help young doctors to realise that patients have wishes and can still think? Doctors need to learn that the patient’s desires have to be taken into account, especially towards the end of life. Is it because of our fear of being forced to live that we end up going to Dignitas?
John Thomas, Belfast

Reality bites
This is a case of a potential situation against a reality. Those opposed to assisted dying put more stress on the potential for people to be cajoled into ending their lives, while those in favour put more stress on the reality that people are living in severe pain which cannot be ameliorated by palliative care. Personally, I think reality must prevail.
Michael McDowell
Westcliff-on-sea, Essex

Naive view of Russia
Edward Horgan’s assertion that Russia is not a threat to Ireland (Letters, last week) displays a naivety that I find shocking in a former military officer. Russia regularly threatens Ireland through cyberattacks, dissemination of false information, election interference, undermining of European institutions — the list goes on. What would it take for Horgan to believe Russia is hostile — have their personnel appear on our streets, as was the case in Crimea? Or would he believe the likely Kremlin line, as offered in the case of the Salisbury poisonings, that they were merely sightseers?
Michael Scanlon, by email

Protest under attack
I am alarmed that the right to protest seems to be under attack (“Gardai probe protest at Varadkar home”, News, last week). You report gardai are running “an operation to disrupt protest groups” and to “charge key figures for unrelated offences”. This seems an interference in the political process, a denial of the right to protest, and the type of strategy associated with a totalitarian regime. By creating such precedents we undermine cherished principles and they become difficult to re-establish. Protecting our freedoms is vital for the long-term health of society, and shouldn’t be sacrificed for the short-term benefit of suppressing Covid.
Dara Gilroy
Howth Summit, Co Dublin

Sick pay silliness
The proposed sick pay law, giving all workers ten days’ paid sick leave a year by 2025, is what happens when you have a Dail that comprises a hotch-potch of primary school teachers, social workers, trade union protection bosses, smug emoters and never-done-anythings (Comment, Brenda Power, November 28). There is no gamble for teachers in choosing a political career as they can slot back into the job after the substitute teacher has been given the boot.
Eoghan MacGiontaigh
Rush, Co Dublin

Unqualified in power
I agree with Justine McCarthy that Maurice McCabe and Catherine Corless have done their country some service and it’s great to see them get such acknowledgment (“Irish history has been shaped by dissenters”, Comment, last week). My issue with what has emerged from 100 years of Irish independence is a national acceptance of unqualified people representing us at council, national and European levels. Having people with no experience has shackled
our progress.
Rodger Waters
Tuam, Co Galway

Culpable in mica mess
Further to your leading article “Mica redress scheme shows coalition’s shaky foundations” (Comment, last week), I have never heard other journalists ask why the insurance sector and the construction industry are not contributing to the mica redress scheme. I have never heard them explore the culpability of ministers in failing to ensure regulations were adequate, or the failure to enforce them.
Seán Macken
Dublin 15

Covid fantasy
The Independent Scientific Advocacy Group (ISAG) believes the coronavirus could be expelled from the island, and is therefore advocating a zero-Covid policy. This is an absurd fantasy. No matter what restrictions are brought in, this virus is not going away. Everyone is going to be exposed to it at some point. It has an extremely high survival rate and most people who contract it have either mild or no symptoms. Get your vaccine (or not), and get on with your life.
Patrick Naughton
Lucan, Co Dublin