Blame Europe on vaccine scepticism

Sir, – Back in November ("To counter vaccine sceptics, we must understand them", Opinion, November 28th), Fintan O'Toole wrote an article in The Irish Times warning against the growing threat of vaccine scepticism. "Vaccine suspicion has a long-standing imaginative power that's hard to overcome," he told readers.

The European Union’s greatest cheerleader then went on to explain that empathy was the best way of dealing with such “cranks” and that “to counter vaccine sceptics, we must understand them.”

It is rather ironic then that the biggest single contributors to vaccine scepticism in the Western world would now appear to be Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and the increasingly hapless Ursula von der Leyen.– Yours, etc,

SIMON O’NEILL,

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Clontarf,

Dublin 3.

Sir, – Why is the Government not transitioning to the delayed second vaccine dose regimen being used in the UK?

Vaccinate more, sooner, and with marginal effect on efficacy. It is working here, in a real-life clinical trial and makes even more sense with constrained supplies.

Please hurry up and delay.

– Yours, etc,

DR MICHAEL O’REILLY,

Manchester,

England.