Of course Covid-19 vaccination certificates are discriminatory – that’s the whole point

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A nurse prepares a dose of the Oxford vaccine (Getty )

Boris Johnson’s statement, as quoted by Nadhim Zahawi (News, 7 February), that this government won’t be issuing Covid-19 vaccination certificates because it is discriminatory and “that’s not how we do things in the UK, we do them by consent”, is as fatuous as one would expect from him.

I hereby publicly voice my consent to receiving a Covid-19 vaccination certificate. I own a yellow fever vaccination certificate, and have carried a variety of other vaccination certificates for travel purposes throughout my life.

They do, indeed, discriminate between those who have had vaccinations and those who haven’t. That is precisely their public health purpose where international travel is concerned.

They are eminently sensible – so where this government is concerned, that is, of course, “not how we do things in the UK”.

D Maughan Brown

York

Can he fix it?

When did Boris Johnson swap his Bob the Builder hi-vis and hard hat for his white coat? All the while he looks studiously at a vial, presumably to reinvent himself as Professor Vaccine Maker.

Peter Smith-Cullen

Dunston, Norfolk 

Survival of the fittest

Are we about to witness another awful example of viral Darwinism in action? As more of the population receive one of the currently approved vaccines, won't this effectively suppress the UK strain of Covid-19, giving the South African strain an advantage? 

This advantage will allow the South African strain to quickly supplant its rival throughout the UK once lockdown restrictions start being lifted.

Dr Gordon Brooks

Gosport, Hampshire

Private fears

I read the Editor’s Letter from Chris Stevenson ('The vaccine rollout is a real bright spot in the news right now', 8 February) with interest. In it he congratulated the government on its roll out of the vaccination programme. I feel that this congratulation is misplaced, as the true appreciation should go to the NHS staff who have delivered this programme.

If the government has any credit due to it, it is that this time it decided not to go to the private sector to try and deliver the vaccination programme.

Martin Johnson

Ousden

Did she have the authority?

I completely recognise the point at the heart of Fiona Sturges’ article ('Jackie Weaver’s parish meeting exposes the belittling and sidelining of women everywhere', 6 February). However, as a former chair of a parish council, I am concerned by the general acceptance that the clerk can remove the chair from the meeting. Under most council’s standing orders, that could only be done by the rest of the council.

Perhaps Jackie Weaver had been granted exceptional powers beforehand, but if not, then it seems to me that no matter how admirable her self-control, what she did was probably illegal.

Rachael Padman

Newmarket, Suffolk