Brad’s not over the hill just yet

BRAD PITT believes he’s on the ‘last leg’ of his acting career at the grand old age of 58. In a candid interview with men’s magazine GQ, he spoke about nearing retirement after more than 30 years on our screens. Oh, come on, Brad! This seems a little premature. OK, so you’re no spring chicken, but male actors seem to keep working until they drop. As annoyingly sexist as that is — and I wish it was the same for female actors, too — I reckon you’ve got a few more decades in you yet.

In fact, as we are living longer, more people continue to work well into what used to be considered ‘old age’. I saw a patient a few months ago who is well into his 80s and works full-time as a gardener. ‘My wife says I should retire soon, but I’ve told her I’m still too young,’ he said. That’s the spirit!

■ The prospect of a new polio outbreak has caused great concern among doctors. This is particularly worrying as just a third of teenagers in some parts of London have been vaccinated against the virus, with many children unprotected up and down the country.

The Covid pandemic hasn’t helped — many who would have been vaccinated have missed out. I remember that my chemistry teacher had contracted polio as a small boy. As a result of the infection, he’d lost the use of his legs and had to wear callipers for the rest of his life.

We never see these kinds of things now and, as a result, we’ve become complacent.

We need a national push to get all the young people protected in order to prevent a resurgence of this devastating disease.