Our despair at the rising tide of Covid cases is at long last tinged with hope.
The green light for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in such a short time is a tribute to the brilliance and ingenuity of our scientists.
It is now imperative that the Government ensures the rollout is efficient and fast.
Vaccination can save lives, reunite families and start to get life back to normal.
So the approval of a second vaccine could not have come at a more needed time.
The second wave of the virus is sweeping through the country at an unprecedented rate.
Millions more people in England were today placed under tougher Covid restrictions – a national lockdown in all but name.
Many hospitals, despite the valiant work of NHS staff, are struggling to cope.
The daily death toll is now the highest since April and it is sadly inevitable that the number of Covid’s victims will rise still further.
While we wait for the rollout of the vaccine, there can be no let-up in the provision of protective kit, oxygen supplies and testing.
Vaccines are a promise of a brighter tomorrow but there is no disguising the darkness of the time before that dawn.
Deal is dodgy
AFTER nearly five years of wrangling, the Brexit deal was rushed through the Commons in less than five hours.
While most people will be relieved we are leaving with a deal, the agreement is far from the triumph claimed by Boris Johnson.
If the Government were confident it had delivered the best possible deal, it would have allowed MPs more time to debate it.
The fact that they did not suggests that they have something to hide.
Well deserved
Congratulations to all those recognised in the New Year Honours.
The focus will be on the famous names but this is really about rewarding the everyday heroes and heroines who do so much for their country and for their communities.
