A possible cure for
anti-vax idiocy?
January 3rd 2021.
As far as I understand, the cost of treatment for the 'average' victim of Covid-19 in the UK is yet to be assessed. However one can see how the cost could easily be well in excess of £25K per patient, and that is very probably a highly conservative estimate. The Fiscal Times, a magazine published in the US, took a guess much better educated than mine at the beginning of the pandemic and said the direct cost would be at least $20,000 – but that was before it really took hold and does not assess the 'indirect' costs, for example an ambulance trip or the denial of a bed that was previously destined for another purpose.
The more one considers it, the more costs come to mind – but let's call it £25K. The actual figure doesn't matter for the purposes of this piece.
Now consider a situation whereby someone who as been spreading anti-vaccination misinformation and who flatly refuses a vaccine costing around £50 to produce, distribute and administer, is then infected and finds himself in hospital.
Instead of the preventative £50, this will now cost the nation a curative £25K, whilst denying another patient a much needed bed.
There is an obvious argument here; the idiot had the chance to prevent this, and not only did he refuse it, he also called us all variously liars, fools and conspirators whilst defying any and all measures to control the virus. Since he has the virus, it is almost certain that he has infected other people as a result of his galactically arrogant stupidity. We should therefore leave him to it, let him lie in the bed he has made and let nature take her course.
I'm not serious about that (honest!), but you can't deny the elegant logic of the proposal. We must and will treat him to the best of our abilities and return him to society so he can continue to freely preach idiocy about the flat earth, the climate crisis or whatever. However I think he should have incurred a large bill of, say, £25K? This bill to be as legally enforceable as any other.
“But we can't do that! On what basis?” I hear you clamour...
Well – we can. Let's take the average student debt a doctor incurs in study and training in order to receive the privilege of risking her own life and working to the point of exhaustion in order to treat victims of the pandemic. The BMA says that figure is £70,000. This means many of the medical team treating our not-so-hypothetical idiot will be using some of their hard-earned salary (whilst putting their lives on the line – I make no apology for repeating that point) to pay their student loans.
The number of NHS staff infected and killed treating us during 2020 is greater than the number of British military personnel killed in action. Do we expect members of our armed forces to return from duties on our behalf and be saddled with the cost of their training?
I know it's simplistic, and I realise it would be a nightmare to administer (although I think a great many people would volunteer to take care of that!) but I think those who refuse the vaccine and who later contract the virus should be liable for the costs incurred, and this new stream of income be used to help fund the cancellation of NHS staff's student loans. Now tell me why I'm wrong.