I’ll thank the great Britons offering us all a shot in the arm

This week I opened an envelope containing news I’d hoped to read for almost a year: it’s my turn to have the Covid jab.

I have an early morning appointment this weekend so my friend Sheila, who is in my bubble, has not only offered to drive me there but also said if I sleep with my mobile under the pillow, she’ll phone me to make sure I’m awake early enough.

Friends who’ve already had it say it’s really well organised and takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.

I think I’ll feel like a new woman afterwards because it’s a real sign there’s light at the end of the long, horribly dark coronavirus tunnel. And it means that if I wake up feeling unwell in the middle of the night, I won’t feel as frightened.

I’ll still be extremely careful because I’ve followed every rule since March and am not going to muck about now.

But before I start making a list of all the people I want to hug and places I want to visit when we’re allowed to again, I will be sure to thank everyone who has come out of the safety of their homes to help as many people as possible get their jabs.

Every volunteer, every nurse, every cleaner at the vaccination centre deserves to be and needs to be thanked.

On the news, I saw a man who was an airline pilot using his spare time to clean seats at a vaccination centre after people had sat on them.

And that’s why it’s called Great Britain. Because when it comes down to it, we all make a great effort to pull together.