The UK government’s “personal responsibility” policy for covid is hypocritical and unsustainable

In his statement to the House of Commons on 21 February 2022, the prime minister Boris Johnson announced that, henceforth, his Westminster government would deal with covid-19 “in a very different way, moving from government restrictions to personal responsibility.”1 Since then, covid cases have remained stubbornly high in the UK, rising to as many as one in 18 of the UK population, fuelling growing numbers of people with long covid, and bringing massive disruption to hospitals, schools, and the economy.2345 Despite growing calls from a wide range of authorities (from the World Health Organization regional director to the editors of The BMJ and HSJ) to complement the vaccination programme with further measures, the Westminster government has consistently refused to take action by repeating the mantra of “personal responsibility.”67There is nothing wrong with stressing “personal responsibility.” It is clearly up to all of us at all levels—individual, group, institutional, and societal—to…
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