It is no exaggeration to suggest that, without a vaccine programme, and with Covid-19 cases rising, Britain would likely be heading into lockdown. Jabs have saved thousands of lives and allowed us to keep our economy open.
The Government was rightly praised for the original roll-out — from mass-purchasing multiple vaccines still in development to the swift immunisation programme. However, the booster roll-out and that for 12 to 15-year-olds has not gone nearly as smoothly.
To ensure we avoid the human cost and further deeply damaging restrictions such as working from home or lockdowns that disproportionately impact the London economy, the Government has to get its vaccine policy right. At present it is not.
Meanwhile, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is considering whether to reduce the wait for a booster jab from six to five months. In our view, they should not delay.
By cutting that period by a few weeks, it would make many more vulnerable people eligible for a third dose in time for Christmas. This could avoid a re-run of last year, when cases soared amid Government inaction leading to a further lockdown that crippled parts of London’s economy.
We do not wish to deny Nadhim Zahawi his promotion to Education Secretary, nor place the blame squarely on his replacement as vaccines minister, Maggie Throup.
Yet clearly this change is reflective of a Government that thought the job was largely done on vaccines and that a booster programme could look after itself, without a proper communications strategy. This confidence has proven to be misplaced, and only today has a national advertising campaign been launched.
As temperatures plummet and the nights draw in, it is clear we must exhaust every tool at our disposal to limit the spread of the virus.
