Feest Isolation Days – 9 March 2021
The vaccination roll out continues apace in the UK. Some 22 million people have now been vaccinated and those between the ages of 55 and 59 are being called up this week for their jabs. Unlike the French, the British are responding positively and people are happy to get the vaccine. French GPs are finding it difficult to find ten people a week who will take up the jab. Scepticism and false information abound.
The tourism department however, is trying to sell France to their biggest market, the Brits, but they had better get their people to start lining up for the jab. Such a small percentage of the population is taking up the vaccine that they will not be on top of Covid for quite some time – according to one tracker, at the current rate it will be March 2023 before the population is vaccinated. Interesting to see what the 12.5 million British visitors will make of that information.
Meantime, the Sunday papers were filled with adverts of the sunny beaches and glorious blue skies of Greece. It would seem that appealing to a vaccinated population is a plan that our European neighbours intend to pursue. Last week, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “A vaccine certificate would allow you to enter Greece without being forced to provide a negative test and without any quarantine restrictions and we do intend to go down that path.” That’s not on the EU agenda, but certainly on the Greek agenda. Greece has vaccinated 5 percent of their population to date and at the current rate it will take them another 77 days to inoculate a further five percent. The UK has given first jabs to 42 percent of the population and over a million people have already had their second jabs. It would seem that the sceptical French and the welcoming Greeks might see a few Brits headed their way from the end of June. BUT – before we become too eager, perhaps we should wait and see what the science says about transmission and bringing back unwanted variants even if you are vaccinated. We await with interest the studies that are going on at the moment.
Britain and all those involved deserve a big thank you from all of us for the excellent job they’ve done with vaccination so far. It does feel different going out having had a jab and done the three week wait. Facemasks are still worn, and sanitizer is always in the pocket, but it does feel much less scary. I’m heading to the post office today. Haven’t been there in over a year…that sort of says it all really. Make sure that you pick the important outings when you head back out in the world again. And don’t forget to social distance!
Maybe we don’t need to go out. I could use sunflower oil instead of olive oil for the biscotti.
When the British get things right, they soar. Here is a wonderful clip from the 400th Celebrations of Shakespeare’s birthday at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2016. It’s a total delight and well worth the six minutes of your time today.
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
With love,
Kathy x