Hope on the horizon in coronavirus battle

MANY opinion columns expressed hope that the end of the coronavirus crisis may finally be in sight.

The Daily Record

“From Scotland yesterday came the tremendous news of the Edinburgh University study which shows the Covid vaccine massively reduces hospital admissions by more than 80 per cent,” the paper said in its leader comment.

“This is the first sign of the realworld impact of the vaccination in the UK. If anyone had any doubts about the usefulness or effectiveness of the vaccine programme, these should now be dismissed. Anyone, of any age, who has been offered a jab but chosen not to take it up should reconsider.”

It said managing expectations would be the next big task for political leaders.

“For the rest of us managing our impatience with lockdown and sticking to the safety rules until the vaccines have done their work will be the last big challenge,” the comment concluded.

“But we do that over the next few months with some real encouragement that things are moving in the right direction.”

The Guardian

Sally Frampton wrote that concerted action would be needed to tackle vaccine scepticism.

“Vaccine hesitancy is a complex issue, and it is not necessarily helpful for it to be framed in terms of #antivax versus #vaccineswork (not least because such a dichotomy often overstates the power of an organised anti-vax movement)”, she argued.

“Neither do such discourses usually reflect on the long and difficult history of vaccination – and medicine more generally – and why that has left some communities more hesitant to receive vaccines.

“Nineteenth-century doctors tried to maintain boundaries between scientific journalism and the media, but were unable to prevent the public and journalistic demand for health information.

“That desire remains with us today. The flow of medical knowledge works best when researchers, journalists and the public are better connected and considerate of one another. Preventing misinformation is a shared responsibility.”

The Daily Express

The paper used its leader comment to pay tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore, one of the heroes of the Covid crisis.

“A valediction to a remarkable man takes place this Saturday,” it said. “But rather than a solemn wake, this weekend’s send-off for Captain Sir Tom Moore has already struck a cheerful note. In his epitaph, to be read at the service, Captain Tom has left a joke: ‘I told you I was old.’

“Coined after his hero, comic Spike Milligan, whose gravestone features the quip ‘I told you I was ill’, Captain Tom’s gag strikes exactly the right tone of levity for a country in the midst of critical change.”