Living with Covid-19 Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Living with Covid-19

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts
Monday 21st February 2022

(2 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Boris Johnson Portrait The Prime Minister
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First, may I thank my hon. Friend very much for his service in the NHS throughout the pandemic? I have seen him in action. On his point about the NHS, that will be for the NHS itself to determine.

Florence Eshalomi Portrait Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)
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The Prime Minister mentioned that this is about personal responsibility, and it is. It is about our personal responsibility not to inadvertently pass on the virus to someone who is vulnerable; it is about our personal responsibility to do the right thing if we have symptoms, or have covid; and it is about our personal responsibility to think about our neighbours, our friends, our carers—the people who need those restrictions to be lifted. What does the Prime Minister have to say to my vulnerable constituents in Vauxhall who are concerned that this personal responsibility that the Prime Minister wants us to take might inadvertently lead to their catching covid?

Boris Johnson Portrait The Prime Minister
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The hon. Lady is right to focus on personal responsibility, but the other part of the strategy is the vaccinations. This is a vaccine-led strategy, and that is what enables us now to rely on people’s personal responsibility as well.