I'm still not clear on what's being said here. Are you saying that there should have been no cost or impact as a result of COVID? Because that's how it comes across... as though there should have been no impact at all.

Maybe you mean it would have been better if the cost/impact had been less, sure, don't think anyone can disagree with that. But 'we' and future generations would still have negative impacts do deal with even if we'd managed to spend half the amount we did.

Also on the selfish point... at the time I viewed people deciding not to have the vaccine and then going on to freely mix with anyone and everyone of all ages with joyful abandon and no care, selfish. I still stand by that. There was also a correlation between the people I knew that didn't want to be vaccinated also being deadly anti-rules, therefore more likely to be the ones spreading it around. So yeah I thought that was fair then and I stand by that. Should they have been demonised? No. Should they have been open to criticism? Sure. Free speech and all that. Works both ways.

I view it as no different from calling someone who decides not to have a flu jab in a bad flu season selfish... ultimately it's their choice but it increases the risk of others getting infected.

Edited by SW19 CPFC (09 Mar 2023 5.23pm)

People calling people selfish for not taking the vaccine does not really make sense!

As the vaccine does not stop transmission at all! It's plane science.

It's actually selfish of people to demand other people to get vaccinated. Why should anyone have to risk side effects of a vaccine if they don't want to over satisfying the fear of someone else when they can still transmit and carry the virus just as much as a vaxxed person.

Also still awaiting if to hear if a blood clot is serious or not. I guess not!

Dam auto correct :-)

As the decision wasn't "informed" but "misinformed", that argument falls at the first hurdle. You have only to read some of the comments in this thread to know that some of the reasoning is badly off-centre. The selfishness oozes from them. There is no acceptance that their activity has the potential to affect others. Not just through the possible infection of others but because, without being vaccinated, you risk any infection being worse and requiring more NHS resource. Resource that would have been available to others if you had been vaccinated.

No, they are selfish. All their arguments are about being free to make a personal choice, without any regard for others. That's classic selfishness.

We are all paying for the lockdowns. We are all in this together.

People calling people selfish for not taking the vaccine does not really make sense!

As the vaccine does not stop transmission at all! It's science.

It's actually selfish of people to demand other people to get vaccinated. Why should anyone have to risk side effects of a vaccine if they don't want to over satisfying the fear of someone else when they can still transmit and carry the virus just as much as a vaxxed person.

Also still awaiting if to hear if a blood clot is serious or not. I guess not!

Edited by eaglesdare (09 Mar 2023 8.01pm)

Those who equate misinformation with real information think they are informed. They can think as long as they want, and not act on a whim, but unless the source of their information is tried, tested and trustworthy then they risk using misinformation. As many seem to use sources which are illogical and have particular agendas and world views it's unsurprising to me to read some of the claptrap claims.

I don't expect anyone who was at minimal risk to pay for anything. We took the best decisions we could, based on the expert consensus at the time. The enquiry will decide what lessons need to be learned and the government will decide how we manage the recovery. Just as governments have done in the past. I don't, and didn't, detect anything selfish involved when those decisions were made and should additional funding now be required to enable students to catch up I would support it.

The national debt is bourne by us all. We have all had some to bear over the years. The pandemic wasn't anyone's fault and isn't fair to anyone, but it could not be ignored and there would have been a significant cost whatever decisions were taken.