Whanganui letters: Vaccine rollout programme applauded

Ken Carvell says the Covid-19 vaccine rollout has been clearly explained. Photo / Bevan Conley

I fail to understand why some political commentators, opposition MPs and others complain about the speed of our vaccine rollout.

It has been clearly explained that we get the vaccine in batches and it is abundantly clear we cannot vaccinate more numbers than we have vaccine. Hence we have a regulated, progressive rollout.

I also applaud our government and health team for acknowledging that most countries are in greater need than us.

It has been clearly advertised in all media - over the radio, in our newspapers - when our turn is due and how we can make an appointment. But I do accept that there are some who will need help - that's when GPs, DHBs, family, friends and neighbours can step up and assist.

So, if you are one of those complaining, take stock and be thankful we live in a country where the virus is not rampant.

KEN CARVELL
Whanganui

EVs have advantages

It seems to me that news reports — and public reaction generally — regarding subsidies for EVs have painted them in the worst possible light.

I concede that some sectors (those whose work depends on a sizeable vehicle, for example) have cause for complaint, but smaller vehicles for general use need not be so expensive.

Two and a half years ago I paid $23,000 for a used (9000km) Nissan Leaf with a Bose sound system and 360-degree camera view. I was an "early adopter", and Leaf prices have come down a lot since then - you could get the same car now for nearer $15,000.

People wedded to the internal combustion engine generally do not understand the cost savings other than fuel. Since buying my car, its total running costs (apart from electricity) have been two WOFs, two wiper blades and one 12v battery. Whereas I used to spend hundreds per year for servicing, in two and a half years I've had one only, costing $83.

A common misconception is that you have to have a special installation in your garage — no, I charge up overnight using an ordinary three-pin outlet. I make few long trips and use the car mostly around town, and I spend about $10 per week in electricity.

Motive power comes from an electric motor with very few moving parts, making wear practically non-existent. I don't expect to ever need to replace brake pads, as regenerative braking (using the car's momentum to put charge back into the traction battery) means I don't even use the brakes unless stopping suddenly.

There are some disadvantages, which I concede. My main purpose here is to point out some advantages to EV ownership that have not been made clear.

COLIN McKINNEY
Whanganui East

Creating money out of thin air

The mysteries of money printing are thankfully becoming a polite topic of conversation. So good to read Garth Scown (Letters, June 22) making some sensible, if sceptical, comments.

The growing recognition that money can be created virtually out of thin air is welcomed by Social Crediters and other monetary reformers such as the MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) economists.

Now the big question is about who is permitted to create it – and for whom?

Athens University economist Professor Yanis Varoufakis has recently made the startling revelation that since the pandemic over $9 trillion has been "printed" by Western central banks.

But all of it goes to the big commercial banks for fiscal stimulus via bond buying on the capital markets - a system that cannot be sustained, as Garth Scown correctly states.

Anyway, let's keep up the conversation – because we are starting to get somewhere – and not before time.

HEATHER MARION SMITH
Gonville

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