EVERYDAY AGEISM

It’s the last tolerated prejudice. But Femail’s had enough. It’s time we called out those day-to-day moments when we’re patronised for no longer being young...

DO I have it? I might. The dreaded symptoms arrived nine days ago — prickly throat, fatigue, slight fever, dry cough and they haven’t completely gone away.

I am a boringly healthy person, much more so than I was in my 20s and 30s, and because I am not that old anyway, I assumed I had nothing to fear. Except in the callous, ageist eyes of Covid-19, which preys on low immunity, I AM that old — being nearly 60.

Covid-19 doesn’t care about 60 being the new 40, or only being as old as you feel. Once you hit 50, your immunity starts to diminish and, if like me, you are between 59-70, you are biologically old. In terms of my campaign to combat ageism and to nudge society to be more inclusive of those over 60, this pandemic is a giant step backwards.

The vaccine rollout here has been incredible slow and as we hear from our friends and now their children in the north, posting their injected status, so many of us are wondering if we will ever be in the queue at the vaccine centre. Is Covid-19 a warning that we feisty boomers should get back in our boxes? I hope not, but right now, 60 feels like the new 85.