Yesterday on The Andrew Marr Show, Health Secretary Sajid Javid was asked if the Government was now going to introduce vaccine passports and mask mandates in light of rising case numbers in Europe.
We are ‘not at that point’, he said, but the Government is keeping all options open.
‘If it makes sense to go further, we will,’ he added.
But on what planet would the introduction of ‘Plan B’ make sense?
Let’s not forget that those countries currently experiencing surging infections – the Netherlands, Austria, Germany – have had Covid passports and compulsory masking in place since the summer.
If such measures are effective at suppressing the virus, why are those places now having to impose winter lockdowns?
Some might argue that you cannot compare England with continental Europe because – we’re separated by a body of water, after all.
But what about comparing England with Wales, with whom we share an island? Wales has had a COVID certification scheme in place since October 11, yet according to the Office for National Statistics, one in 55 people in private households in Wales have the virus compared to one in 65 in England.
Yet in spite of the overwhelming evidence that vaccine passports are ineffective, a majority of the public still want the Government to bring them in.
In a poll published yesterday, 58 per cent of English adults said they’d support banning people from bars, restaurants and other public venues if they can’t produce evidence they’ve been double-jabbed or recently tested negative.
The reason for this may be because most people still think of the COVID vaccines as being more effective than they really are. When they were first rolled out, we were assured they offered almost complete protection against the virus.
‘You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,’ said Joe Biden.
‘Vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick,’ said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a Director of the Centres for Disease Control.
‘When people are vaccinated, they can feel safe that they are not going to get infected,’ said Dr. Anthony Fauci.
We now know that isn’t true.
Vaccinated people can still catch COVID-19 and pass it on. The evidence suggests they are less likely to become severely ill or die for the disease, but even those benefits wear off over time, which is why the Government is urging people to get the booster.
If vaccinated people can transmit the virus, what is the point of banning the unvaccinated from bars, restaurants and other public places? You might as well ban people with ginger hair for all the good it will do.
Yet across Europe we see the unvaccinated being blamed for rising case numbers, with more and more restrictions being placed on their movements.
Vaccine passports and mask mandates are a great example of what’s become known as the ‘politician’s fallacy’, first identified on Yes Minister: ‘We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.’
They are pure theatre, designed to gull the public into thinking politicians are taking decisive action to avert a crisis. And when they fail to make any impact – as we’ve seen across the Continent – the next step is not to abandon them, but to double down.
The end point of this remorseless logic – or lack of logic – is the imprisonment of the unvaccinated.
At the moment, cases in England are creeping up, while hospitalisations and deaths from the virus remain stable. Nevertheless, I think a ‘winter wave’ is probably inevitable, with all three indicators heading into the red.
When that happens, it is essential that the Government holds its nerve and doesn’t succumb to the politician’s fallacy.
We are not a ‘papers please’ country and, God willing, we never will be.
Source: Toby Young – MAIL PLUS