So grateful for vaccinations

As I write this column, it has been exactly a year since we entered our first lockdown.

It’s hard to imagine now that we all thought it would be over in a few months. But it wasn’t and sadly many, many people lost their lives and many were very unwell.

As we spring into spring, and the slow unfurling of our lockdown, we should celebrate the amazing success of the vaccine rollout.

What started with a few cells grown in a lab has turned into an incredible story of hope.

I know that some people are not keen on the idea of having the vaccine, and I don’t intend to tackle that here, it’s their individual choice.

There have been many vaccine successes over the last century. My mother nearly died in the mid 1930s with diphtheria, and in fact her sister did die.

In 1942 a vaccine was produced and then in the decades to follow were polio, tuberculosis, measles, rubella and many more.

These clever and intrepid scientists led a blazing trail of success in stomping out unnecessary deaths that brings us right up to the COVID-19 vaccine today.

I work with a charity which supports conservation in Africa.

I know from speaking to people on the ground there how envious they are of our vaccination programme.

They would give their right and left arms to have the jab and certainly don’t understand the reluctance of some to receive it.

They can’t afford the luxury of saying no. While we will always remember with sadness those who lost their life to the virus, it is essential we embrace the hard work of those scientists who found a way out and those healthcare workers and volunteers who are now sticking needles into our arms so that we can get on with our lives. Thank you for my jab.