'Penny-pinching Tories scrap free jabs just in time for Covid comeback'

24 August 2023 , 20:06

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Calls for Covid jabs for all (Image: PA)

A new variant of ­coronavirus has been detected, worrying the medics.

EG.5, offspring of Omicron and named Eris after the Greek goddess of strife, may not be as dangerous as her viral parent but with hospital admissions on the rise again, she shows the Covid saga is far from over. Perversely, the Government has chosen this precise moment to rule out free booster jabs this winter for the otherwise fit 50 to 65-year-olds, excluding 12 million from seasonal protection.

If they want cover, they may have to pay a leg to get a needle in the arm. Scientists say it will cost considerably more than the £15-£20 typically charged for the flu jab. In the US, a price of £100 per dose is being quoted. And people here must wait until next year for the privilege of going private for a service until now provided by the NHS. Older people, and those with acute health ­problems, are still being called for free vaccination.

This penny-pinching violates the spirit of the health service, and exposes millions to a serious disease. The policy comes too late to stem infection waves over the autumn and winter, and puts poorer people who can’t afford a jab at greater risk, argues virology professor Lawrence Young of Warwick University.

“Either the decision to limit free vaccine access needs a rethink or we need to find a means of subsidising the cost to ensure that everybody has access,” he says. Amen to that. Over to you, invisible Health Secretary Steve Barclay. Come out of the cave where you’ve been hiding into the light, it won’t harm you. But your policies might.

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