Society must learn lessons from COVID pandemic and not buy into fear

Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power has warned people to learn the lessons from COVID-19 and not “buy into the fear” spread by organisations during the pandemic. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccines worldwide amid its ongoing court case against 51 victims. It follows a court admission on April 30 that Vaxzevria had induced the dangerous side effects of thrombosis – caused by excessive blood clotting – and a rare condition called thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) in some people. “Although AstraZenca is being discontinued for commercial reasons the news is a reminder of the freedoms that were taken away from us and the way people were treated by politicians – as well as members of society,” Ms Power said. “I think we'd all agree we never want to go back to that dark time of 2020 and 2021 but we need to remember that the fear – that came from the top down that was drilled into us and made many of us do crazy things like stock up on toilet paper – could be thrown back at us but in a different way.”