Politics Matters by David Stewart: Jabs and boosters are the answer to coronavirus crisis in the Highlands
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Margaret Keenan may not be a household name in the Highlands, but the 91-year-old has just had her anniversary as the first ever patient to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in Britain. She got her second and then the booster in September.
The UK boss of pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, Ben Osborn, said this week it is likely we will all need booster jabs “for a number of years to come.” He also made the point that giving boosters to all adults is the most important action that can be done to tackle the Omicron variant right now. I went for my booster and flu jabs this week. The venue was the Smithton Church, Inverness, where the very efficient and friendly staff and volunteers ran a slick production line, moving patients from registration, vaccination and “observation” in a matter of minutes.
The nurse who administered my (painless!) jabs told me she had retired from Raigmore Hospital years ago but had volunteered to help the health service. No headlines or press-releases for her – just dedication to duty and patients.
In Scotland, over 80 per cent of the population have had their first two Covid-19 doses and good progress is being made with the booster programme.
Covid-19 is not going to disappear overnight. We can have efficient systems and first class, dedicated nurses, but as the World Health Organisation says: “No one is safe from Covid-19 until everyone is safe.”
• During my time as an MSP, the winter months always brought worrying cases of fuel poverty to the top of my to-do list, so I fully back the Courier’s “End the Chill” campaign.
Di Alexander, chair of the Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey Citizens Advice Bureau, made the very valid point that over 60 per cent of those in Highland can’t get mains gas – the cheapest form of domestic energy. That brought to mind a campaign I was involved with as a young MP – to bring mains gas to Ardersier. Local residents had urged me to intervene, citing high heating costs and poor insulation of their homes.
A packed public meeting gave me unanimous approval for the campaign. The problem? The main gas line was on the A96, miles from Ardersier. At the time, the rules for pipeline gas extension needed approval from the regulator, Ofgem, and then the first new customer had to pay the full costs of the work – thousands of pounds!
In order to make the proposal more affordable I approached the army at Fort George and the managers at Dalcross.
If that had succeeded, the gas pipeline would have been extended to Ardersier without the installation costs falling on residents. Sadly, for one reason or another, my approaches failed. Surely the time has come to make mains gas a right for all customers.
• Off to Edinburgh this weekend to pick up my son who has been working in sunny California for the last five years. It has been two long years since we last were together – a combination of the American travel ban on UK visitors and a pending academic visa for “the boy” which stymied his return home.
Just imagine the scene when he arrives: my wife in tears and me trying to be a typical Highland man who never shows emotion. The only times I cry are when my team gets beat (don’t mention Morton!) and assembling IKEA furniture!
