SIR - Carol McGiffin apparently got 'slammed' by viewers of Loose Women for saying many Brits are too soft cancelling their Christmas plans because of Omicron. But she is right and it is mainly the government's fault.

The most disgraceful thing about the terrible way this pandemic is being handled is that all those in the hospitality sector and tourism in particular are repeatedly being thrown under a bus and their lives ruined. And the people doing this are mostly unaffected by the restrictions they support.

We were told that vaccines are the way out of this crisis. And the possibility of variants was always known, certainly by the time the vaccine rollout started. It happens with flu every year and those vaccines are amended. Yet with over 100 million Covid-19 jabs delivered in the UK, we are continually being threatened by restrictions and further lockdowns. The vaccine passports are completely unnecessary and useless. The omicron variant amounts to no more than the common cold, and there are much greater public health dangers that are being ignored.

The people who are driving and supporting this campaign of fear should hang their heads in shame.

Alan Bates, Bowland Avenue, Baildon