In today's news, in a bizarre attempt to suddenly appear like a republican meritocracy, the government seems to have announced that the 'Queen and PM would wait in line like everyone else' for the Vaccine that may be coming soon to SAVE US ALL.
This is absurd. Since when does the Queen have to do anything like 'everyone else'? If she falls ill, or requires medicine, it is promptly and effectively delivered and administered by the best experts in the land. Her 'knights' stand by to do her bidding. We literally pray and sing songs wishing her a long life. As the ruler of the land, it would be both churlish and overly-democratic to try and erect a sudden and false barrier to the Queen accessing top-level medical supplies.
Nor is such a gesture even remotely necessary. If and when the Vaccine is approved, it will be rolled out with a million doses available per week. The first tranche is due to go to NHS workers, and those over the age of 80. The Queen's placebo effect makes her the best medicine the NHS has - if she God forbid fell ill now, it would demoralise the nation and be awful and tragic. Further, she is over 80. So, she falls into a top tier for treatment.
Nor would anyone else suffer unwanted hardship if Her Majesty took one of the first million jabs.
In fact, just the opposite.
As tested as this wonder drug is likely to be, vaccines usually take ten years, not ten months, to create and test. Even the safest medicine does have, from time to time, unwanted side effects. Some people die horribly from one aspirin. Most don't, which is the basis on which modern medicine is based - the law of averages. Cruel in the individual case, but normally kinder across the species population.
Therefore, anyone AVOIDING taking the new Covid-19 vaccine first is actually far less brave and less helpful, than those willing to risk much, and sacrifice everything, to advance scientific knowledge and the general health of the nation.
It would seem that having the Queen roll up a sleeve and take the vaccine, in public, for example, would do much to boost (no pun intended) our willingness to try it, and line up, once our age level is called.
IF the government wants to pretend it is noble to avoid the vaccine, they may wish to rethink their PR strategy.
Maybe the first shots could be given at Barnard Castle?
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