SMALL STEP ON ROAD TO RECOVERY:
FORWARD planning these days is practically impossible. By March I’d be well used to taking my first steps into the year.
Nonetheless a glimmer of sunshine shone from the gloom on Wednesday when the initial sting of a vaccine needle produced an emotional sense of elation.
Astonishingly it has been the year’s highlight, and I am surely speaking for tens of thousands in my age group and clinical section of society.
But there are many people in the UK who will not be taking part in the vaccine programme, and therein lies a universal problem.
A recent study by Yougov exploring attitudes towards the vaccine, showed that 10 per cent of the UK population, including 19 per cent of British black, and 18 percent Asian communities, have declared that vaccination is not for them for a variety of principled reasons.
Others have formed anti-vax groups that are aggressively opposed to vaccine programmes. Their reasons are manifold and not to be debated here.
But by contrast, a separate survey shows the take up of white Britons is growing, revealing that only six per cent would refuse the vaccine.
With an aim to jab nearly every adult around the world, the U.S. and China have administered the highest number of doses, 90 million and 52 million respectively, with the UK ranking third with 23 million.
To date, more than 300 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines have been administered, in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Hubris though, must be tempered with reservation. If we’re talking percentages in a populated world of 7.8 billion, the United States has recently vaccinated 18.4 per cent of its population, and China, 3.5 per cent, with the UK scoring around 33 per cent, evidently not nearly enough to satisfy predictions.
Equally concerning is universal access. According to some statistical surveys, the UK is one country among just 14 per cent of the world’s population whose countries have pre-ordered vaccines.
For the rest, particularly in low or middle-income countries, there are still serious questions about access to vaccines with the United Nations estimating that by the end of 2021, no more than 50 percent of the world’s population will have been inoculated against Covid-19.
Even in high-income countries which are currently vaccinating their populations to plans, there are many questions about prioritisation.
The World Health Organisation puts it simply – everyone, everywhere should have access as quickly as possible, starting with those at the highest risk of serious disease or death.
At the same time, the UN secretary general, António Guterres has pointed out that 130 countries had not yet received a single dose.
Neither is there any feedback about takeup from the majority of African countries except for South Africa which has inoculated eight million in a population of almost 60 million.
Of concern is the forecast that many will opt out altogether. In which case, particularly in democratic nations, there’s nothing to be done about preventing the carriage and transmission of the virus from this source.
The world, the country, and Stoke-ontrent, is slowing emerging, punch drunk, from 12 months of purgatory, the likes of which have never been experienced before.
The universal economic situation is mind-blowingly complex.
No one dares to make calculations about the future of retail and business. Stories are surfacing about jobless families, rising debt, and the security of employment.
Medical and clinical waiting lists have resulted in postponed treatments, some having passed the unfixable stage.
Many more, in all age groups, stand at the edge of mental health illness. In education, teachers, parents and pupils, are all troubled by how far behind is educational and social development.
There are many aching miles yet to travel before the full consequences of the pandemic are fully addressed.
But in the sound words of Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu – a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For me that first step began with a vaccine jab last Wednesday, and I know I’m not alone.