We're immensely sympathetic to the challenges involved in protecting public health during a pandemic. But Ireland's young people have suffered immensely during the past 15 months and NPHET's latest proposals on re-opening indoor hospitality contain another slap in the face to the country's youth.
There are many elements of NPHET's proposals on indoor hospitality that have people tearing their hair out. I just wanted to wanted focus on one maddening inconsistency that speaks to a general unfairness in the treatment of young people that is not exactly new.
Under NPHET's proposal, only fully vaccinated people would be able to eat and drink indoors. But there will be no vaccine requirements on the people who serve them. Service staff will be allowed to work in these places with or without a vaccine.
It took a Fíanna Fail senator (Lisa Chambers) to properly tease out these inconsistency on Twitter today.
So if younger unvaccinated people won’t be allowed to eat and drink indoors, I assume younger and unvaccinated people won’t be allowed to work indoors in hospitality? May as well be consistent with how we treat young people or is having fun the differentiating factor? 🤔
— Lisa Chambers (@lichamber) June 29, 2021
While being interviewed by Bryan Dobson on RTÉ today, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed that people who aren't fully vaccinated would be able to work in indoors hospitality. He was asked to explain the 'logic or fairness' of this idea.
Stephen Donnelly says your children can serve food in a restaurant, they just can't eat it there.#disbandNphet https://t.co/c9Tf6PDR7w pic.twitter.com/FpqKO39lZH
— Recover Irish Aviation (@RecovAIRie) June 29, 2021
NPHET's plan basically amounts to this: it's ok to work in a pub or restaurant without a vaccine, you're just not welcome to enter as a patron. At a press conference today, Michéal Martin acknowledged the 'apparent contradiction' in NPHET's proposal.
What about younger people who can work in some areas but who can't avail of the same services?
Taoiseach: From the very start people have been working in some settings with PPE and the likes, and they haven't had to be vaccinated— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 29, 2021
Alan Kelly of Labour captured the 'bananas' contradictions in government's plans.
During Leaders Questions, Labour's Alan Kelly dismissed the Govt's Covid measures as "absolutely bananas". Minister Eamon Ryan said that the Govt wants "to sit down with stakeholders" and to look at options which "provide better protection" | https://t.co/QRuxSAYrp1 pic.twitter.com/MfxWnl1UhN
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 29, 2021
By and large, the old have suffered the physical consequences of the pandemic, but the young have endured the brunt of covid's psychological and financial scars. The government's vaccine rollout is - in its essence - ageist. That approach has protected the health of many older people. The government now faces a race against time to vaccinate as many people as possible before the Delta variant becomes fully immersed in the population.
NPHET's proposal unfortunately further alienates the young and ringfences them out of another element of normal life.
We admit it's easy to hurl from the ditch with this situation, but it just seems like another example young people asked to endure hardship as the people who run Ireland's pandemic response stumble towards a solution.
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