DR TIM ALLISON: Get on board with effort to ensure we all stay healthy
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“We’re all in the same boat” is something that we often hear whenever there is a big issue affecting many people.
This could be Covid or increasing food and fuel prices.
It offers a sense of solidarity and a feeling that we all are under threat, and that we are all vulnerable to the situation.
It is true that we are all at risk of catching Covid just as much as it is true that we are all affected by price increases, but the level of risk and the level of impact is not in fact the same for all of us.
We are not all in the same boat. We are in different boats in the same stormy sea.
Every boat could be at risk from the storm, but some are at much more risk than others.
To paraphrase George Orwell, we are all vulnerable, but some are more vulnerable than others.
Covid has come back a little into the headlines with new variants of the Omicron strain of the virus, especially BA.4 and BA.5 prominent in causing new infections.
Variants are able to spread because they are more infectious than the type of virus that was previously the most prevalent.
Because they are more infectious, they can win in the competition with other variants and establish themselves as the dominant type of virus.
More infectious viruses will infect more people including people who have had Covid before.
We are now seeing around one in 20 people infected with Covid.
The newer variants of Covid may be less likely to cause serious illness and we have a strong protective effect from the immunity we have gained from vaccination.
Many people will see little effect from the current wave of Covid, but this is not true for everybody.
It may be the same sea, but we are in different boats.
Older people and those with reduced immunity remain particularly at risk from Covid.
That is why the spring vaccine booster campaign was aimed at these groups.
Similarly, we should take precautions when we know that we will be in contact with people who are more vulnerable, such as when we visit hospitals or care homes.
However, we can be in contact with vulnerable people at any time, so we do need to continue to take sensible precautions, both now and as and when further waves of Covid potentially emerge.
Getting vaccinated and staying at home when we have symptoms are particularly important precauations.
But we should also continue to remember the value of good ventilation, hand washing and wearing face coverings in crowded indoor spaces.
We may not all be in the same boat, but we can all follow the same good health messages, for everybody’s benefit.
Dr Tim Allison: People still testing positive for Covid-19
* Dr Tim Allison is NHS Highland’s director of public health and policy.
