Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Queen’s vaccine example

By Amit Roy

THE Queen has set an example by letting it be known that she and Prince Philip have both had the Covid-19 vaccine in an effort to reassure those still worried about its safety.


The vaccines were ad­ministered by a house­hold doctor at Windsor Castle where the royal couple have been living during the lockdown. By last Saturday (9), they were among 1.5 million people to have been vac­cinated. The only conces­sion made to them was that unlike other elderly folk, they did not have to queue in the cold.

It was the Queen who decided that the British public should be told she and Philip, who are 94 and 99 respectively, had been vaccinated. “To pre­vent inaccuracies and further speculation, Her Majesty decided that she would let it be known she has had the vaccination,” according to a Bucking­ham Palace source.

What was not revealed is whether they had the Oxford-AstraZeneca vac­cine or the one made by the Pfizer-BioNTech. Like everyone else, they will need a second dose in due course.

It is said the royal fam­ily has held progressive views on vaccination.

It was a very similar picture in 1950s Britain, during the programme to roll out a vaccine against polio. The disease, at its peak in the previous dec­ades, had paralysed or killed more than half a million people worldwide every year, many of them young children.

Despite the threat posed by poliomyelitis, the introduction of a vac­cine in 1956 by the newly established National Health Service was still greeted with suspicion by many parents. That was in part because of reports that some children in the US had developed polio and others died after tak­ing the new vaccine.

In a move designed to win round public opin­ion, the palace briefed the press that the Queen had approved the vacci­nation of her children, Charles and Anne, then aged eight and six.

In January 1957, news­papers, under headlines such as “The Queen de­cides on polio”, revealed that the royal children were each given two in­jections a month apart by Dr Wilfrid Percy Henry Sheldon, the Harley Street specialist who had served the Queen since her coronation.

There is little doubt that the actions of the royal family helped con­vince many to let their own children receive the vaccine, and over the fol­lowing months and years, millions more went on to do so. The vaccination programme helped cases fall dramatically and since the 1980s, no cases of the infection have been registered in the UK, despite it being still found in other countries across the world.

The real problem today is not the anti-vaccine lobby but whether the millions of doses required can be supplied – and in­jected – fast enough. This health emergency should be treated on a war foot­ing, with vaccines being given round the clock across the country. The whole process still seems too slow.

It is still not clear to me how so many people are catching the virus, given that the vast majority wear masks and other­wise follow the rules. To escape the new, much more infectious form of the virus, it seems the best option is for people – Asians, especially, since so many have underlying conditions – to put them­selves into a voluntary form of house arrest. Don’t go out. Full stop.

It is hard to credit, but in some parts of London, the infection rate is not one in 50 but one in 20. That’s the size of an ex­tended Asian family.

More For You

Comment: Reform split exposes the dangers of unchecked populist rhetoric

Reform UK's new MPs Richard Tice, Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Rupert Lowe pose during a presentation of their programme in London on July 5, 2024

Getty Images

Comment: Reform split exposes the dangers of unchecked populist rhetoric

IT took Nigel Farage 30 years to get elected as an MP until the voters of Clacton sent him to the Commons on his eighth attempt last summer. Having broken through by getting five Reform MPs, Farage has taken every opportunity to stoke the media hype in which supporters fantasise and his critics fear a populist wave could sweep him all the way into Downing Street next time. But there has been something of a reality check this month – with the new party splitting as relationships broke down between the leader and Rupert Lowe, the former Southampton FC chairman elected in Great Yarmouth.

The Farage-Lowe battle has many dimensions. It can be seen as a personality clash of political egos – which escalated after US billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, decided he preferred Lowe to Farage. It is an argument about Farage’s control of Reform’s structures – and the slow progress in giving party members any role. The Reform leadership says it is about personal conduct – even reporting Lowe to the police for alleged threats to party chair Zia Yusuf – but acted against Lowe only when he criticised the leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Essence of Ramadan

Ramadan is a time for self-reflection and to become better human beings

Essence of Ramadan

THE word Ramadan conjures images of fasting, shared meals, and a sense of community, but there is a deeper, more profound purpose beneath the surface of this holy month for Muslims.

Ramadan is not just about abstaining from food and drink; it is a transformative journey of self-discovery, offering a chance to shed old habits and cultivate inner peace. It is a month of selfreflection, a time to become better human beings and reconnect with our values.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asian health workers paid
heavy price during Covid

The National Covid Memorial Wall on the Covid-19 Day of Reflection, marking five years since the start of the pandemic in London last Sunday (9)

Asian health workers paid heavy price during Covid

BEREAVED families and friends came together last Sunday (9) to remember the loss of loved ones as the UK marked five years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Public memory is remarkably short; there was a time when people were prevented from even saying goodbye to their relatives as they died in hospital. To prevent contamination, their bodies were slipped into body bags for funerals where almost no one could come.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sunak symbolised how high
ethnic minority talent can rise

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty

Sunak symbolised how high ethnic minority talent can rise

“MY POLITICAL journey was so quick,” former prime minister Rishi Sunak told Nick Robinson during a two-hour BBC podcast on his lessons from Downing Street.

Sunak’s meteoric rise and demise makes him a former prime minister at 44. Was it too much, too young? Did he make a mistake in grabbing a couple of years as prime minister after the implosion of Liz Truss?

Keep ReadingShow less
Are Tamil cinema’s big stars failing the industry?
Indian 2

Are Tamil cinema’s big stars failing the industry?

BOLLYWOOD’S recent string of big box of fice disasters has been well-documented, but Tamil cinema is also experiencing a tough period.

The industry, known as Kollywood, had one of its worst years in 2024, with a jaw dropping amount of money being lost on big-budget blockbusters that were rejected by audiences. Although there were a few successes, like Amaran and Maharaja, 2024, just like previous years, was dominated by expensive flops headlined by big-name stars that didn’t live up to expectations.

Keep ReadingShow less