There’s a race on to get the coronavirus vaccine. So far, the shot only been offered to select groups of people: the elderly, healthcare workers, and those with certain medical conditions. While it’s understandable that these populations be first in line, the moral hierarchy (or lack thereof) of the rest of the vaccine rollout boggles the mind.
For example: convicted pedophile and former pop star Gary Glitter recently received a COVID vaccine. The 76-year-old inmate — whose real name is Paul Gadd – was among those inoculated in The Verne (aka the “luxury Alcatraz”), a British prison. He’s there serving a 16-year sentence for assaulting three girls – one under the age of 13 – in the 1970s. It’s his third prison stint for pedophilia-related crimes.
While UK government officials claim that prisoners “are being vaccinated at the same time as the general public,” David Spencer of the Centre For Crime Prevention told The Sun that the system “needs an urgent rethink.” He continued: “There are plenty of key workers and vulnerable people still to receive their jab. It is wrong to single out criminals ahead of them.”
One could argue that criminals don’t deserve to get the vaccine before the rest of the general (and law-abiding public); others might claim that because inmates can’t socially distance, the risk of transmission is higher for those behind bars and could be more deadly. But in the case of people (nay, animals) like Glitter, wouldn’t death by coronavirus be one form of poetic justice?
And speaking of justice, how fair is it that Glitter gets a jab while his victims, who are decades younger than he is, have to wait in line for their turn?
“You have some prisons where there’s a significant group of elderly sex offenders all in their 70s and 80s,” a source told The Sun. “Because of their age, they will get the vaccine first. But if you’re a prison officer looking after Glitter and you haven’t had the jab, you’re not going to be happy.”
Clearly, if we were in charge, there would be a wildly different approach to doling out the vaccine. Since we’re not, we can only hope that the newly vaccinated Glitter gets what’s coming to him courtesy of prison guards or his fellow inmates, against whom there is no immunity.
Cover Photo: Peter Dazeley / Contributor (Getty Images)
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