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There is a moment when David Nabarro, special envoy of the WHO director general on Covid-19, seems uncertain. Have you heard Miriam O’Callaghan correctly ?, you’ll see him wonder, when she indicated that nearly a third of Irish people are unlikely to take the first publicly available EU-approved Covid vaccine. “And those are the people of Ireland? That’s really surprising to me, ”he says, adding that the WHO does not want people to be offered vaccines who have safety questions.
On the other hand, 56 percent of people say they are likely to get vaccinated (12 percent don’t know). But, as presenter Mark Coughlan noted, experts say 75 percent of the population will need to receive the vaccine to develop herd immunity.
The level of suspicion of a Covid vaccine was a surprising finding in The Next Normal (RTÉ One, Thursday), an edition of Prime Time based on a survey of behaviors and attitudes that RTÉ commissioned six months after the Covid crisis, to measure changes in values and attitudes. . In an epic sweep, as well as a series of results, the show included filmed reports and multiple panels of commentators.
Another surprise, no doubt, is that 79% of people expect their personal finances to be similar over the next 12 months compared to the last 12 months.
A big takeaway from the survey is how Covid has impacted people differently. While 22 percent work from home, if part-time workers are excluded, the figure rises to 42 percent. One report tells the story of two coffeeshops, one in Dublin City, with businesses decimated by a shortage of workers or tourists, while another in Kells thrives thanks to more people working from home. Young people are also disproportionately and adversely affected, illustrated in comments from across the country, about frozen lives, lost sixth years, uncertain college life, unknown futures.
Many findings are not a surprise, but a confirmation of a hunch of what we feel we knew: 57 percent of people are “reassessing what they are doing with their lives”; 82 per cent are proud to be Irish and how we have responded to the crisis; 94 percent are proud of our healthcare professionals; 62 percent of people value work-life balance more highly.
Some figures are encouraging: 90 percent of teens value family life more now; 49 percent of people appreciate the nature around them more; 90 percent of people think more about the needs of the elderly; 86% of people value family life more.
However, other results are worrying: 33% say that their mental health has suffered in the last six months; 41% of people between the ages of 18 and 34 are concerned about their mental health; 39 percent of 25-34 year olds are concerned about job security; 46 percent between the ages of 12 and 17 fear social isolation if there are more peaks.
Surprisingly 58 percent of people don’t want life to go back to the way it was before.
There are many talking heads in a myriad of multi-angle panels.
Psychiatry professor Brendan Kelly notes that all age groups have been affected, highlighting the effects on those over 70 and younger people.
Infectious disease doctor Paddy Mallon points out that the restrictions are not to punish us, but to reduce transmission rates, so “everything gets better” and says “we spend a lot of time comparing ourselves with other countries. We have to stop doing that and find a solution specific to Ireland. “
Leo Varadkar is very positive. “This pandemic does not have to result in a lost decade like the last economic crisis did,” he says, and is confident that “we will lose a year of economic activity and a year of our lives, but not ten years.”
Nabarro speaks of a board of indicators that play their role, saying that “it is not the number of cases or even the number of hospitalized or deceased, what matters, is whether or not as a nation you can anticipate this virus and so that it gets out of control “.
ESRI’s Pete Lunn says the survey shows big changes in people’s world views, outlook, mental health and aspirations. “Not wanting to go back to what was before, even though they have received this huge wellness impact … So there is a great deal of change, along with great uncertainty about the future.
But perhaps the most evocative talking head on where we are is the poet Felicia Olusanya’s (aka FeliSpeaks) opening spoken word piece on how the virus “took our breath away. For dead. “She says,” Ireland is standing. Which way will our legs go?
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