A LAVISH thank you for NHS heroes and a reminder of the need for continued and extended vaccination were the topics raised by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.

The Daily Mail

Richard Eden said that when Raymond Blanc was struggling to breathe with Covid-19 in intensive care, he was unsure he would survive.

“Now, the celebrated chef is recovering but has not forgotten the NHS staff who saved his life,” he said. “I hear he invited around 50 doctors and nurses for a slap-up champagne lunch at his two Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, where diners usually pay around £250 a head. The secret thank-you is estimated to have cost more than £12,000.”

He said Blanc told him he had received ‘the most extraordinary care’ at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

“[He said] ‘I think that’s part of what saved me. I am completely humbled by what everyone did and how kind they were while still being totally professional.

“’I was in awe at their care, their competence and the way they passed on knowledge to each other. However busy they were, they always made time for the patients.’”

The Daily Express

Stephen Pollard said the truth is that no one really knows what is happening now, in terms of Covid, let alone what will happen next.

“Sometimes it seems that if you put two epidemiologists in a room and ask for their advice you’ll get three different views in response.” he said. “But what is abundantly clear now is that there is simply no way to stop Covid in its tracks. It follows that whatever measures we take against Covid are a trade-off.”

He said however gloomy some of the statistics may seem, we are in a far better place than at any point before - and that’s almost entirely due to the vaccine.

“That is just one reason why it is so vital we don’t let up on innoculations, and why the Government is right not only to offer booster jabs to the over- 50s, but to lower the age for vaccination to 12.”

The Independent

Skylar Baker-Jordan said his great uncle is battling Covid and on a CPAP machine in hospital to help his breathing.

“ With heavy hearts, my family is preparing for the worst,” he said. “Yet as sad as I am over my uncle’s illness, I am furious with him and the people who knowingly led him to the hospital and, quite possibly, the grave. I am also forced to rethink my approach to vaccines.

“My uncle is a deeply religious man. He and his wife both refused vaccines because they believed the Lord would protect them.

“Now, however, I am forced to reckon with the fact that vaccine mandates are our only way out of this pandemic.”