Letters - Thursday February 4, 2021

I was fortunate enough to be given the jab yesterday and can only saw how fantastic the organisation was.

I had booked my vaccination online where I was given four choices of the sites and multiple times. I chose Winter Gardens for 10am and was then also given my second date and time.

From arriving at the designated car park I was directed by a steward to Adelaide Street where yet another steward continued the direction (even though I knew where I was going).

On arriving at the Olympia entrance to the vaccination station I was asked to remove my own mask and use one of the NHS supplied one.

There were approximately a dozen reception desks to register and I was instantly seen before being directed to the next section by members of the fire and rescue service.

I was met by a very pleasant RAF lady who was to administer my jab. She was from RAF Coningsby and had the week before been in Blackburn. The procedure was over in a couple of minutes and I was asked not to drive my car immediately but to wait a few minutes in case I had any reaction which I didn’t.

The whole procedure from start to finish was a great credit to the fantastic care given to making sure that every detail had been arranged to make the journey as easy as possible.

I was through the whole procedure in 10 minutes.

Whoever was responsible for arranging the venue and putting all the helpers into place needs a huge thank you from everyone who has, and will benefit from using the station.

Frank Hessey

via email

virus

A world war against Covid

There have been lots of films and documentaries regarding the Second World War that have been recently broadcast on the TV.

One of the documentaries regarded the Battle of Britain, code named Operation Sea Lion.

This battle was fought in the air over the South East part of England between June and September 1940.

During this time, the pilots who took part in the battle would be expected to do several missions a day, not knowing whether they would come back alive or seriously injured.

Many more battles followed on the ground, at sea and in the air.

Surprisingly, nobody complained. They just got on with it and did what they were told.

I suppose we are all currently in a world war of some kind, a third world war with an invisible enemy, the coronavirus.

I suppose we can count ourselves lucky in a way because the latest count has been just over two million deaths due to this horrible disease in contrast to 75 million deaths by the time Adolf Hitler fired that bullet through his head on April 30, 1945, and after six years of war.

During the last 12 months fighting this disease, the citizens of the UK have been asked to follow some simple rules – wash hands, keep a distance, wear a mask and protect the National Health Service.

It couldn’t be simpler but some refuse to follow these instructions.

Turn the clock back 75 years and, with that kind of attitude, I dare say we would not have been victorious in 1945 but the complete opposite, with a strong possibility of speaking or having to learn a foreign language.

There is a quote once used by a famous American President during his inaugural speech and it goes something like this: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.

Barry Carr

Fleetwood

virus

Congratulations for vaccine rollout

Oh dear, M Tipper, regarding your letter, your heading, Same Old Rhetoric, could not have been more apt, as once again you write a constant tirade against “this Government” (Your Say, February 2).

Not only are you a hindsight expert on all Covid issues, you now have become an expert on the rollout of the Covid vaccine. To actually praise the success of this would not appear to be in your nature.

You conclude your latest letter by saying that you are sick and tired of listening to politicians.

Well, perhaps if you were to look at other countries around the world , Russia for example, I have no doubt that you would be in prison for daring to criticise the government.

The efficiency in which our country is getting the vaccine to people is amazing and congratulations should be given to everyone involved.

Whatever the governments, both past and present, have achieved, I feel very fortunate to be able to live in this green and pleasant land.

M Molloy

via email