Opinion Matrix: The vaccine hesitant and Covid curse
VAT refunds for overseas visitors, the “vaccine hesitant” and another blow for Boris Johnson were the topics discussed by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.
The Daily Mail
Alex Brummer said the Government would shoot itself in the foot if it persisted in pressing ahead with the plan to suspend VAT refunds for overseas tourists.
“There could be no worse time to penalise the shopping emporia favoured by foreign tourists to the UK,” he said. “With much of the world’s air traffic grounded and non-essential shops in England trapped in a second lockdown, the most famous names in British retail are gasping for air.”
Not even the “mighty” Harrods was immune, he added, pointing out that they had laid off 700 staff during the pandemic.
“One can understand why the Treasury, in a desperate search for new tax revenues to help close a bruising budget deficit of £400 billion this year, is anxious to close loopholes,” he said. “Economic experts are counting on a robust recovery of the economy next year as Covid-19 test and trace becomes more effective and the first vaccines are available. Rejuvenation of the travel, tourism and hospitality enterprises, which are a large part of the UK’S services-driven commerce, is essential to prosperity, living standards and jobs.”
He said nearly 1.2 million overseas visitors took advantage of the refund scheme every year and, if VAT was imposed, some of the most famous names in British shopping could collapse.
“Rishi Sunak and HMRC must beat an urgent retreat from a plainly anti-tory and free enterprise policy which would deprive the nation of valuable foreign currency and jobs,” he urged.
The Guardian
Gaby Hinsliff said the announcement of the Moderna vaccine being 94 per cent effective, following on from the Pfizer trials, felt like the first good news in months.
“But the next giant leap towards herd immunity will be persuading everyone to actually take whatever emerges, a task made harder by the viral spread of anti-vaxxer sentiment online,” she said. “What really keeps public health experts awake at night, however, is the ‘vaccine hesitant’.” She said around 7% would refuse a vaccine, according to the latest polls, but around one in five were “reluctant”.
“It’s these wobbling ‘vaccine hesitants’ who could most easily be swayed by something their friend puts on Facebook; who’d rather wait and see what happens when others have the jab,” she said.
“Helpfully, those in greatest danger from Covid are most enthusiastic about vaccination, with almost nine in 10 older people willing to take it.
“Those who remember classmates dying from measles know what a world without immunisation looks like.”
However, to reach herd immunity, requires children and grandchildren to join the fray, she said.
“A process that usually takes years – first the scientific breakthrough in the lab, then entering clinical trials, then winning approval from the independent safety regulator, then beginning production – is effectively happening all at once. It’s unprecedented, and I’m naturally cautious,” she said. “But if all goes to plan in the coming weeks, I’d take a vaccine. The question is, would you?”
The Independent
Andrew Grice said Boris Johnson’s luck had “definitely” run out.
“Now the curse of Covid-19 has struck again: he must self-isolate in his flat above 11 Downing Street for another 10 days after Tory MP Lee Anderson, who attended a meeting at Number 10 last Thursday, tested positive,” he said. “To describe this as bad timing is an understatement; it really is the last thing Johnson needed.”
He said the Prime Minister would have to decide whether to announce new lockdown measures from December 2 virtually or allow another minister to reveal them in the Commons.
“His setback will inevitably prompt questions about just how ‘Covid secure’ Downing Street really is,” he added. “Johnson is making a point he is sticking to the rules. His need to be above suspicion is an unfortunate reminder that Cummings did not stick to them during his disastrous trip to County Durham. And a reminder that moving on from the Cummings era will be easier said than done.”