A welcome respite from restrictions but we still have a long way to go

THERE have been many defining moments in Ireland’s year long battle against the Covid pandemic and, when the history of the pandemic is eventually written, the next few weeks look certain to be among them. The current, highly restrictive, phase of our year long lock-down is set to come to an end this week with the return of schools and a slight loosening of some rules such as the extension of the travel limit to 20 kilometres.

These steps are hugely welcome, and will no doubt be greeted with utter joy and enormous relief by most people, but it seems we still have a very long way to go before true normality returns.

All things going well, the coming weeks will see further restrictions lifted. Construction is set to open up once more; limited sporting activity and training will resume; some outdoor attractions will open their doors; two households will be able to meet outdoors and more shops will be allowed to re-open, though again on a very limited basis.

It feels like a very long time since Christmas and any ‘new’ freedoms are to be cherished and enjoyed but – based on leaks from Government – any sense of relief may well be short lived.

We will see some services and activities return but many business will remain closed and several sectors look likely to remain almost entirely shut down for many months to come.

There is, for example, little expectation or real hope that the hospitality sector – and pubs and restaurants in particular – will be open before August at the earliest.

While we have all grown well used to ‘socialising’ online, the fact that the especially hard-hit hospitality sector won’t be opening for several months puts paid to the notion that the country might enjoy something approaching a normal summer.

Limited outdoor dining will allow some business to re-open their doors but most are facing another lost season and there is now a very real fear that many will now never open again.

To be clear, this is absolutely not the Government’s fault. Micheál Martin and his Ministers are clearly doing all they can to keep the country safe while trying to get it back open.

Unfortunately they, and the fight against Covid, are hamstrung by one key issue. Vaccines. Or rather the lack of them.

The roll-out of the national vaccination programme has come in for much criticism in recent weeks but, to be fair to the Government, they have done a good job with what they have.

Any vaccines that have arrived are quickly getting to patients and, despite chronic supply issues, the programme is going well.

Unfortunately, despite the hope that far greater supplies of vaccines will reach us between now and the end of June, it looks as though the problems are set to continue. The United States has seen its expected supply of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine fall from five million to just 700,000; meanwhile there are still concerns about the Astra Zenica vaccine and its link to blood clots.

There are, unfortunately, many reasons to expect that vaccines will not arrive here in anything like the required numbers.

The next few weeks will tell us a lot about what is likely to happen this summer. Sadly, right now the outlook isn’t great.