Alison O’Connor: 'An abundance of caution' over Covid decisions is understandable

“Bloody NIAC and it’s blood abundance of caution,” sums up the sentiment coming from Government quarters and many sections of the media. 

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said he had “a huge amount of regret” over the harm done to women in the CervicalCheck controversy.

There is an entire language and phraseology that will forever be associated with Covid. The latest of which — an abundance of caution — has entered the realms of insult.

It’s a phrase that first came to attention a number of weeks ago when used by Professor Karina Butler, the Chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) after a decision to temporarily halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and it has been bandied about wholesale since.