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3 February 2021 • 12:02am When schools reopen, longer school days could help pupils who may have suffered setbacks in lockdown to catch up Credit: Jacob King/PA SIR – As a schoolmaster of 34 years, I recognise the challenge that both educators and learners are facing over “lost schooling” (report, February 1) – but it is not an insurmountable one. One enviable benefit of independent education is that many independent schools have much longer working days than state schools, and some also provide lessons on Saturdays. Extending the school day to 5pm would mean, for some schools, the ...

30 January 2021 • 12:01am Stella Kyriakides, the EU's health commissioner, who said of AstraZeneca's vaccine supply: "We reject the logic of first come, first served. That might work at the neighbourhood butchers but not on our contracts" Credit: Johanna Geron /Reuters SIR – Reading between the lines, it looks as though the AstraZeneca plant in Belgium is having scale-up problems. Hence its “best efforts” fall well short of the EU’s belated order. With our astounding success at securing supplies of vaccines, why don’t we offer to divert any excess UK-made supplies to the EU – p...

SIR – Much was made of “good faith” by the EU during Brexit negotiations. Recently there have been reports of its officious customs staff rejecting export documents for ridiculous reasons and even of lorry drivers’ sandwiches being confiscated. Now, in an attempt to draw attention away from its sclerotic vaccine procurement and approval process, the EU threatens to stop the export of vaccines from factories in continental Europe and demands that it be sent supplies produced in Britain. The EU would do well to remember that good faith works both ways. Adrian Waller Woodsetts, South Yor...

13 January 2021 • 12:01am Mavis, 87, is pushed by her daughter out of the Covid-19 vaccination centre at ExCel London, home to the London Nightingale Hospital Credit:  DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP SIR – My 90-year-old aunt experienced total chaos on Monday morning when attending her appointment for a Covid-19 vaccination at the new Epsom Downs Racecourse vaccination hub. Her appointment was for 10.05am. On arrival, she joined a queue of cars, where she remained for four hours, waiting to be processed. She was then told she could leave the car and join a walking queue in the freezing cold, whic...

Credit: steve parsons/pa SIR – On Friday morning I received the Pfizer vaccine. No side effects, or anything else. The arrangements were like a military operation: smooth-running and very competent. The jab was completed in seconds, done by a young doctor whom I did not know in a community hall, with volunteers guiding patients at every stage. All were charming and helpful. The sense of relief afterwards is something to be so grateful for. Janet E Hotter   SIR – Back in the Seventies, in the Lincolnshire village where I lived, two local transport companies would collect produce from the ...