So much is owed by so many, to so few

A RESPECTED group of actuaries (experts on numbers) reckons that the vaccines will soon have an effect.

By vaccinating the most vulnerable, we can reasonably hope to prevent around two-thirds of all Covid-19 deaths they say. Deaths should really start to be prevented in March.

Maybe deaths in hospitals are already 5% to 10% lower than they would otherwise be. Not a lot, but going the right way.

By the end of this month vaccination should reduce deaths by 66%, by the end of March, they should be reduced by about 85%, relative to no vaccinations.

A lot of assumptions are in there, and we all need to keep on observing the social distancing, washing hands, wearing face masks etc. That way we can reduce the hospitalisations and the deaths and be that little bit closer to normality. This is good news and a sign that things are going the right way.

If we stick at this, we can defeat the virus. We can all play our part in this great national project of revival.

Never, in the field of our NHS’s long history, has so much been owed by so many, to so few.

John Wood Bristol