At last, a government press briefing with good news. The cavalry has arrived. We are moving out of the tunnel.
That was the theme of the message from a relieved prime minister hailing Britain being the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine.
It was an historic scientific achievement, 10 years work reduced to 10 months - like conjuror producing a rabbit from his hat.
In the Commons an unusually elegantly speaking Matt Hancock described it as a triumph of science, ingenuity and humanity.
But the historic news was not met with national celebrations. No church bells ringing. That was stifled by warnings of the dangers ahead.
'We must not get carried away', said Boris Johnson. 'We must stay with our winter plan'.
There were more cautionary words from Professor Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, with a whole string of ifs and buts about the vaccine and vaccination programme. 'We are not back to normal', he said.
It it is still far from normal, with people confused by the varying programmes of the four countries and upheaval in parliament over the prime minister's three tier winter plan for England.
It was approved but only with Labour abstaining, and a mass of Conservatives opposing it.
There are other less weighty distractions arising from the news; the collapse of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia retail empire and then Debenhams led to a stampede for sell off bargains at Debenhams while the rule that English pubs have to provide 'main meals' has sparked a debate on whether scotch eggs qualify.
Michael Gove came a cropper over that, first announcing they did not and then backtracking - with egg on his face.
Thank goodness for the cavalry, those brilliant scientists.
The coronavirus story continue as uncertain and bewildering as ever, but thank goodness for the cavalry, those brilliant scientists.
They surely deserve a clapping day.
No comments:
Post a Comment