THERE were many announcements over the weekend that the UK Government had reached the 15 million vaccinations target by end of last week. The news was always accompanied by the Prime Minister, Matt Hancock, or some other UK minister. At no time was there a mention that the target was made up of totals from the four nations of the UK. England’s NHS, which Hancock is really responsible for, had 11.8 jags. Countries other than England had made up the rest of the target number. Scotland had vaccinated 1.1 million people by the weekend. Northern Ireland had 373,414 and Wales had 771,651 by the weekend.
The total numbers of vaccinations has to be applauded. Coverage of targets over the weekend highlighted the 15 million vaccinations but only had UK ministers taking the credit.
James Waugh
Currie, Midlothian
READ MORE: Covid in Scotland: 908 cases and 45 deaths recorded over 24 hours
HAVING listened for weeks to the First Minister defend Scotland’s vaccine roll-out because it was apparently “falling behind”, I was amused to see that, as of Valentine’s Day, England was behind Scotland in administering the first jab.
As Jason Leitch points out, it is not a race and this is an entirely frivolous statistic, but I doubt any politician or journalist will be asking Boris Johnson why England is “falling behind”. It is only the devolved nations that can be considered to “fall behind”, after all – England is always world-leading! Eyes roll, shoulders shrug, we move on.
Roger Hyam
Edinburgh
READ MORE: Scotland overtakes England in coronavirus vaccine race thanks to huge surge
AT the end of this pandemic, why don’t the Scottish Government give all those NHS nurses and carers who have been on the front line right through this crisis a certificate of merit acknowledging their hard work and dedication?
War veterans got awards and medals for their courage and bravery during two world wars and it is no different for those NHS workers who were facing death every day trying to save lives. I think it would be a nice gesture to have a certificate hanging on their wall so that their offspring could look back at this many years from now with great pride.
J Macdonald
Isle of South Uist
I CAN’T help noticing that, on UK briefings and those by Tory ministers, the blue on the Union flag has turned jet black. This is not a camera fault as it’s the same on all channels or on different TV sets. Rather, it seems to be a calculated insult to a part of the UK.
If this is the low level of childish “petted lip” behaviour of the Tories simply because they don’t like the way the polls are going in Scotland then it’s going to have the reverse effect to that which they crave.
Scotland did what Cameron wanted and voted No, and since then there have been various attempts to crush “rebellious Scots”. Let’s hope they are unsuccessful next time round.
Alastair Stirling
Glasgow
IN yesterday’s long letter slot L Macgregor and Gavin Brown raised the subject of “once in a generation” and its constant repetition. I am sure that some ferreting by The National’s journalists could find Boris in parliament, prior to its rising before the 2019 election, saying the same thing about the importance of the upcoming General Election. Once found, it should be on billboards and other forms of broadcasts, with the question: "Are you happy to wait until 2060 for the next General Election?"
M Ross
Aviemore
READ MORE: ‘Once in a generation’ lie needs to be rejected even more forcefully
I KNOW it’s very hard to keep negativity out of politics, especially nowadays. I’m doing my best, in my small way, to keep the focus on positive developments like the referendum bill (yesterday’s headline in The National), the explicit Plan B, the Business for Scotland billboard campaign, the recent polling figures, and our chance to tempt new National readers with the Yes Challenge.
If there has to be any negativity among indy supporters, it must be reserved for things like the new "Union hubs" (plural!) starting to spring up like mushrooms – paid for by our taxes but not voted for by our voters, all in preparation for more undemocratic direct rule from Westminster.
That and other British nationalist behaviour should loom far larger in all our minds than a few minor internal spats. And yes, I stand by the word "minor" – they’ll be forgotten; the result of the 2021 Holyrood election will not be. Let’s make sure it’s remembered for positive reasons!
Derek Ball
Bearsden
ARE your tennis commentators aware that the Australian Open tournament does not consist only of singles? Where is the information on men’s/women’s/mixed doubles? Wheelchair tennis?
We’re told that all the British players are out when they are still represented in all of the above categories. Tennis isn’t only high-profile singles players.
Morag O’Dea
Edinburgh
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