THE illegal weekend anti-lockdown protest in Belfast city centre drew a worrying number of people, some of them doubtless simply frustrated after a long and gruelling 18 months of the pandemic. But then, who among us is not?
There was also a worrying number of people there with malign intent – dangerous people who eschew knowledge and science in favour of the lunatic theories expounded on whatever dodgy YouTube video they last watched. The placards told us there were people claiming Covid is a hoax; people making bizarre claims about both the safety of the virus and its intent. In other words, conspiracy theorists who have in all likelihood moved from a previous unhealthy obsession – chemtrails or Pizzagate, perhaps – and immersed themselves in the blizzard of disinformation inevitably thrown up by the biggest health crisis any of us has ever seen, or is ever likely to see.
If people have had enough, then they are entitled to say that and to show it – and they are entitled to do it in a public way that observes Covid safety protocols. But they should know as they scan the internet for details of the next mass gathering that by attending such parades they are associating themselves with, and giving a platform to, some extremely dangerous people. They may claim to have had nothing to do with the lunatic fringe, but the simple fact of the matter is that while they may have been in different carriages on Saturday, they were on the same train.
Health Minister Robin Swann’s announcement this week that he is considering making eligibility for the voucher regeneration scheme in September dependent on full vaccination has drawn the inevitable criticism from the usual suspects.
Left to their own devices, the vast majority of people have taken the right decision in relation to the vaccine, acknowledging the simple truth that while the right to exercise individual freedom is important, it’s even more important to act in a way that recognises the right to health and life of those people around you.
But the vaccine uptake shows us that significant numbers of people have decided not to take the vaccine. And –as with participation in Saturday’s parade – they have made that decision for varying reasons. Some have genuine concerns about possible side-effects of the Covid jab, others are deep in the internet rabbit hole of conspiracy and fear-mongering.
That a financial incentive might be one way of increasing vaccine reach is an entirely logical proposition, given the financial devastation that Covid has wrought on the economy. And it’s a simple statement of fact that the damage cannot be begun to be repaired until the pandemic is over – or at least under control.
So there’s a certain connection there which may be lost on the jabless concerned and conspiratorial, but which is satisfyingly sensible to those of us willing to keep doing what it takes for as long as it takes.
