December 18, 2020 - 7:00am
Emmanuel Macron has become the latest world leader to test positive for Covid-19. Because this obviously doesn’t play to a Britain-is-rubbish narrative, I don’t see anyone making more of this than they have to.
However, the news did provoke the following thought from Tom Kibasi: “Unpopular opinion: heads of government and their staff should get the vaccine first”.
I can see where he’s coming from. There’s a low kind of populism out there that resents any reward or support that our leaders get for their public service. As well as being petty, this attitude is utterly self-defeating. If we insist on punishing politicians just for being politicians, then only power-mad weirdos will want to do the job.
But while our leaders should be spared the cheap shots, they shouldn’t get the vaccine either — at least, not yet.
At a time when availability is still limited, it’s vital that prioritisation is determined by medical needs alone. Like justice, this ordering of priorities must not only be done but be seen to be done. The sight of a young and healthy leader like President Macron jumping the queue, while the sick and elderly remain unprotected, would undermine public confidence at a critical juncture.
Of course, not all our politicians are quite so youthful. Yesterday, Lord Fowler — who is speaker of the House of Lords and a former Secretary State for Health — announced that he’d be popping out to get his jab. And quite right too — at 82 he qualifies by virtue of his age, not his perceived importance. It might also be a good idea to get the vaccine to Joe Biden without too much delay.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeI disagree.
The politicians have been pushing for a vaccine, without checking there long term effects.
So the politicians should act as guinea pigs, to test those long term effects.
If they survive with no illness, then I will be prepared to have the vaccine as well.
Or those who don’t want to take the vaccine, stand aside and let the crowd through. Is it actually your contention to wait several years before distributing the vaccine? And in the meantime, do what?
Seems like a perfectly sensible view … or am I missing something ?
Politicians should get it first to show their faith in the product. ALL 625 of them. How can 625 doses out of a batch of 100k in any way be depriving the vulnerable? Oh and once they had their second injection they can all go back to sitting next to each other to prove that they have really had it. I can hear the screams of avoidance already……….
Who do you think want’s to do the job now?
What do you mean? Politicians are power mad weirdos. They also qualify in the real world as odious, narcissistic, megalomaniac’s. With nil redeeming features whilst scoring the highest in complete incompetence.