Let’s keep hopes high that we can enjoy a summer of events

THE vaccines to protect us against coronavirus are coming thick and fast now, with Johnson and Johnson – familiar to everyone for bathroom and cleaning products – announcing the successful trial of the first single shot jab.

Earlier the US firm Novavax said that its clinical trials had also gone extremely well and its two dose drug would be proceeding towards approval, having been found to be 86% effective against the new more transmissible strain of the virus and 96% effective against the original strain.

As millions of people in the most at risk groups turn up to get their jabs here in the Westcountry and elsewhere across Britain it is worth reflecting on what a triumph the development and roll-out of the vaccination programme has been so far.

The UK may have recorded a terrifyingly high death rate and there are still many questions to answer about the handling of aspects of the pandemic. But on the evidence we have so far, the development and administration of the vaccines has been absolutely first class.

What’s still missing as this crisis drags on through a second year – and as the grim anniversary of the first patient to be treated in the UK is marked – is a boost of confidence about the future.

There is good reason to keep the lid on any unwarranted hopes of better days coming soon at the moment. Millions remain infected, thousands are in hospital, hundreds are still dying every day.

But organisations looking ahead to dates later in 2021 are still doing so with nervousness and, in many cases, deciding they cannot plan events, even as far ahead as August.

In Spring 2020 the disappointment at the cancellation of popular and important events was generally tempered with a cheery, pay off line: “We’ll see you next year.” For too many that turned out to be a false hope. From Glastonbury to the Salcombe Regatta, organisers are revising their dates once more - 2022 is now the big hope ringed on the calendar.

Clearly no one wants to be calling off a major event for a second time having spent money and effort undertaking complicated arrangements. We fully understand that. But where it is possible to keep options open; where those behind the shows and the fetes and the regattas feel able to hope for the best while preparing for the worst, we urge them to do so. Many have. We salute them.

It is events, big and small, that make spring, summer and autumn in the Westcountry so enjoyable. It may be impossible to commit to the biggest and costliest in the first half of the year, given the uncertainty that prevails. But we – and the many visitors already planning staycations in Devon and Cornwall – are going to need cheering up come July, August and September.

We have all been disappointed too many times as the virus has peaked to set too much store by plans for the summer, at least at this early stage. But let’s keep the flame alive and not rule out too many highlights just yet. The vaccination roll-out continues apace and the tide is turning slowly from bad news to good. We must remain cautious – but hopeful too as the vaccine programme rolls on.