Restrictions on unvaccinated majority need reviewed

Sir, – As the UK vaccination effort goes from strength to strength, with over 14 million people having received their first dose, a crucial question is being studiously avoided.

Once the elderly and those at high risk are vaccinated, can the continuation of Covid restrictions on the rest of the population be justified?

Given that the average age of death from Covid-19 is over 80, and we have almost completed giving the first dose to all over 70s, we can expect that their risk of death from Covid will plummet in the next few weeks, as the vaccines kick in.

The vaccines do not just greatly reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19, but also the likelihood of serious symptoms and of passing the infection to others.

Before the end of March we will be left with an unvaccinated majority of the population, who are at very little risk of serious symptoms from Covid-19 and at even less risk of dying from it.

With the vulnerable largely protected, there will be no more justification for restricting the unvaccinated majority than there is to prevent the flu each winter.

Will we, however, be able to get that message over to the monomaniacs of SAGE?

Otto Inglis. Ansonhill, Crossgates.

“The month of July in 2017 was special for the Mearns village of Auchenblae as its

famous son James Taylor was the central figure in a 150-year celebration mounted in Sri Lanka,” writes Fraser Elder. “His achievement as a teenager far from his homeland in an island, formerly known as Ceylon until 1972, is worthy of more detail.

“The young Scot initially worked in a coffee plantation, but a serious disease affected the plants on the island and ended its production. The enterprising Taylor was then instrumental in growing and processing tea and his inventing of a rolling machine established a new industry which was to revolutionise the island’s economy.

“He linked up with another migrant Scot from Glasgow, Thomas Lipton, and the pair became synonymous with tea drinking across the world after making an impact at the London epicentre of the industry in Mincing Lane. In 1893, their fame spread to America when one million packets of their product were sold at the Chicago World Fair. The following year, a Tea Trading Market was established in Colombo on the island with the man from Auchenblae being dubbed ‘The Father of Ceylon Tea.’

“Nine years later, he died at the age of 57 and was laid to rest near his plantation and factory. In 2017, in his home village, two sculpted tributes from Sri Lanka were unveiled along with other memorials in the country’s worldwide embassies which celebrated his life’s work.”

1568: The death sentence was passed on an entire country when the Netherlands was condemned for heresy by the Spanish Inquisition.

1754: Richard Mead, English doctor and physician to George II, who promoted inoculation for smallpox, died.

1822: Francis Galton, founder of a new science called “eugenics”, was born in Birmingham. Among his ideas was the systematic creation of a superior race of human beings, later tried by Hitler.

1940: HMS Cossack rescued more than 300 British prisoners from the German naval auxiliary ship Altmark in Norwegian waters. 1959: Fidel Castro became prime minister of Cuba after overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista.

1990: Royal Navy wives marched through Plymouth and Portsmouth to oppose a Ministry of Defence decision to allow Wrens to go to sea.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Sir Elton John said he was “deeply upset and sorry” for cutting short a concert in New Zealand after being diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

In stark contrast to the photograph above, here is a marvellous snow creation. Jenny Wilson, who sent in the photograph, says: “This snow dinosaur was built by mum. They live at Raesmill Farm near Inverkeilor and it made us smile a lot!”