January 26

It has been upsetting to watch the news agenda change and our second dose anxieties first of all slip down it and then out altogether, despite the fact that the British Medical Association’s letter calling for the delay of the second dose to be reduced from the proposed 12 weeks to six was headline news only a few days ago. Anxieties about new variants of the virus, quarantining of those coming into the country, the need for schools to go back and possible shortages of the Pfizer Vaccine altogether, have taken over all media.

In this morning’s interviews with Nadine Zahavi, on BBC Radio Four’s “Today” Programme and LBC’s “Nick Ferrari at Breakfast”, the implications of delay were not even raised.

On Sunday, Speaking on BBC One’s ‘ The Andrew Marr show”, Israel’s health minister, Yuli Edelstein, said there had been debates within his ministry about delaying the second dose. “I’ll be very honest, we had debates about it in the ministry. And we decided to follow the instructions given by Pfizer. There were different opinions on that in Israel too. But as we have very little information at that stage … So we decided to stick to the instructions we get from Pfizer’.

It was a pity that the show’s production team decided to transmit the Israeli health minister’s interview after the one with Matt Hancock , so being unable to raise the second dose delay with the Health Secretary even if they had been willing to do so.

I think the concerns of those who have had the first dose and are anxious about the delay to the second are regarded as selfish, given that there are so many other major difficulties to be overcome . However, if the eminent scientists who believe that the Pfizer Vaccine may have lost its efficacy at 12 weeks are right, the vulnerable will be still more vulnerable, believing they are protected when they’re not and the vaccination of front line workers, police and shop workers, teachers and the younger members of society may be delayed as the process of protecting the elderly has to begin all over again.

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I thought High Vis jackets had proliferated as much as was possible but I’d never seen these wearers before.