Mixed feelings over second Covid winter
AS Greater Manchester prepares to enter its second winter in the Covid pandemic, residents in Ashton, Tameside, have mixed feelings over how to prepare for it.
Ricky Lee, 44, said: “I’m quite relaxed about it. I’m looking after myself, I’ve had my two jabs.
“If I need to wear a mask I will. But I just look after myself, and hopefully other people do too.”
One woman, who gave her name as Christine, said: “I think people should start taking a bit more responsibility for themselves. They know what the score is, they can see whether it’s going up or down.
“They should have enough common sense to know whether to wear a mask and when to stand back from people. I see my friends, I still don’t throw my arms around them.”
Friends John Dawber, 67, and Stuart Robinson, 84, were catching up for one of the last times before John emigrates to Australia next month.
He has had both Covid jabs, which means that he won’t need to quarantine when entering New South Wales as an Australian citizen.
“I’m doing a runner,” he joked. William Dransfield has been offered his booster jab - but says he won’t be able to have it until December.
The 81-year-old is living with lung cancer, and says he would like to see more people wearing masks than he currently does.
Shelley Ramsden, 43, is a care home worker who says the pandemic has been a ‘nightmare’ for her. She hadn’t had a vaccine until fairly recently, after being threatened with the potential loss of her job under the Government’s policy for care home staff.
Shelley said: “I was totally against ‘no jab no job’ because I wanted to do it in my own time.
“I’m going for my second jab tomorrow. I was literally the last one to get it. It was out of my control – they were taking my choice away from me and I didn’t really appreciate that.”