Brendan Gleeson: Teachers and shop workers should be 'bumped up' the vaccination list
Brendan Gleeson on the Late Late Show St Patrick's Day Special
Actor Brendan Gleeson has said teachers and retail workers should be prioritised for a Covid-19 vaccination as they are “on the frontline”.
The former teacher told the Late Late Show St Patrick's Day Special that "teachers should be bumped up the list" and said he would be willing to wait longer for his inoculation if it meant school staff and those who work closely with the public got their vaccinations sooner.
"I would be prepared to wait, no problem to let the teachers have their stuff first," he said.
"I think they are on the frontline... they should be bumped up the list, and I think people who serve in supermarkets at the tills should be up the list.
“Anybody who is doing the essential stuff in the every day should be getting it, anybody who has to come in touch with the people and the public. I think people are now starting to realise how essential everybody is."
Gleeson also urged people to be mindful of the mental health of others and to be kind to teenagers and young people in particular.
“In terms of mental health, if people can continue with small kindnesses in as much as they can, or remember to ring somebody who might need it and not slam the phone down on somebody who rings... that is what will get us through it." he said.
"I think it's rotten for young people. It gets me down a little when there's a little bit of youth-bashing.
"It must be really awful to be 17/18, where all you want to do is get in touch with people, find new people, meet the opposite sex or whatever sex you are into and the whole idea of touching is completely off-limits - just being able to breathe and smell the air with people, or if people who have fallen in love already are not seeing the person that they want to be with all the time. It's catastrophic at that age, it's horrible.”
