The vaccine roll-out in Scotland is still in its first stages and there’s a long way to go before everyone receives their first jab.
It’s also too early to draw firm conclusions on exactly how effective it is in reducing Covid transmission in the community.
But make no mistake – the early signs are promising.
The number of deaths caused by Covid among care home residents in the last 11 months has been nothing short of a national scandal.
The Scottish Government decided to prioritise residents and staff to get the vaccine as soon as it was approved
in December.
Covid deaths in care homes have now dropped 62 per cent in the past three weeks.
The number of deaths is projected to drop even more in the weeks to come.
If the early signs are proved right, the numbers of people who require hospital treatment as a result of Covid will soon start to dramatically fall as well.
It proves that we must trust the vaccine programme and everyone who is offered the jab must take it.
The fools and scoundrels who promote baseless conspiracy theories online about the safety of the vaccine should hang their heads in shame.
It was the skilled expertise of medical science that was always going to bring this pandemic under control.
Thankfully, most Scots are too clever to be taken in by the kind of conspiracy nonsense shared on social media when it comes to Covid.
But the message can never be said too many times – trust the vaccine.
Help PND mums
One in 10 new mothers experience postnatal depression (PND) yet the illness remains taboo.
Every mother is overwhelmed by the life-changing experience of having a child.
And many make the assumption they are the only ones to struggle.
PND compounds the sense of failure many mums already feel and it drags them into a hell of anxiety and guilt.
And the lack of candour around the subject makes many women feel too ashamed to ask for help.
That’s why it is so important to have mums like political candidate Rebecca Bell talk openly about her battle with PND.
But her story also exposes a mental health system in crisis, which needs more funding.
It took five months for Rebecca to be offered a psychology appointment.
Mothers must be given help when they are at their lowest ebb.
