We have weathered more than we ever imagined, but a new year of hope dawns

NO matter where you celebrated Christmas yesterday, it is very unlikely that Covid didn’t have some level of impact. For some among you, there sadly was an empty chair at the table that never will be occupied again, and we offer you our deepest sympathy. For others, absence was an inconvenience, as travel plans both domestic and international were thrown into chaos by household restrictions, positive antigen tests, or just an abundance of caution.

There are, though, many reasons to be hopeful. As Taoiseach Micheál Martin says in this newspaper today, without the vaccination programme and more recently the booster drive, many more sectors of the economy still would be shut down. Planning is underway to ensure that should a fourth or subsequent jab be deemed necessary in the fight against Omicron and other variants, the HSE is ready to ‘switch on and switch off’ a programme to deal with that.

Above all, though, there is the tremendous promise of antiviral therapeutic drugs that allow for treatment of infection with tablets at home. This points to a future in which we really can live with Covid, a phrase that felt somehow hollow when Delta took hold after a summer of relative freedom.

This time last year, we all hoped that 2021 would see us over the worst of the pandemic, but the year proved not to proceed in the way we so ardently wished. The post-Christmas grip of the Alpha variant led to the longest lockdown, and only the vaccine wall saved us from more draconian restrictions with Delta.

Though we cannot be sure yet, there is compelling evidence that while Omicron is highly transmissible, it is less deadly than Alpha or Delta, and with that comes fresh hope, hope that we are in the endgame of the pandemic as this milder version of Covid replaces a more threatening one. To ensure this - after the Omicron wave recedes - we must begin to think more globally.

The world will be rid of this pathogen only if we ensure that all countries have access to the vaccines they need, not only to protect their own populations but also to reduce the risk of an emergent variant that might cause chaos again. Unicef’s hugely successful Get A Vaccine Give A Vaccine campaign has shown that we Irish understand this, and this country must not and will not be found wanting in its commitment to the WHO’s Covax initiative to get the vaccine out to every citizen of our planet who needs it.

So, yes, there is cause for optimism. We have weathered more than we ever imagined, and while hospitality and the entertainment sector still face huge challenges, other areas of the economy have impressively bounced back. Saving lives always was the imperative, and a strong financial recovery will ensure we can continue to do that.

There have, of course, been mistakes, and many areas in which we could have done better, worked faster, and more enthusiastically. For now, though, it is time to accentuate the positive. A new year dawns, and with more weapons than ever in our arsenal, we take to the fight with renewed vigour.

We wish each and every one of you, our faithful readers, a better 2022.

Happy New Year to you all.