We need patience... and a future plan

PATIENCE has officially been considered to be a virtue since 590AD when Pope Gregory the Great drew up a list of seven of them to counteract the seven deadly sins.

You do not need to be a Catholic – or indeed of any faith or none – to understand that the point which was being made is still relevant today.

Virtues are defined “as the fruits of wisdom” and the wise words of deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-tam urging us to “stay patient” today are certainly worth heeding.

In Gregory’s list, “patience” was an antidote to “wrath”, which did not just mean anger but also impulsiveness and a lack of willingness to cooperate.

These are indeed the problems we are facing at this juncture in the pandemic, close to the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths as we now are.

We are at a moment of great tension.

There is fear over just how deadly the new mutant strain is, discord between doctors over the safe time lapse between the first and second jab and anger over the effects of lockdown, with a desire by some of those who have had the vaccine to rush ahead to live a normal life again.

So Profvan-tam’s intervention reminding people they need to wait three weeks after they have had the jab before it should give some protection and – in the bigger picture, providing a calm voice in the midst of a furious debate – are exactly what we need.

There are understandable reasons to be concerned that a faction of scientists want to extend lockdown beyond a reasonable point. And the survey of rural pubs today underlines that businesses and the economy cannot wait indefinitely.

In this context it is not wrong for MPS to press the Government for a roadmap out of restrictions.

That said, patience is still the key.

But the remarkable rollout of the vaccine in this country and the moves announced today to accelerate it further show that we may be closer to the point of salvation when normality can return with a degree of safety.