Praise the Lord! We are now the envy of the world

‘In the pit of crisis, the fabric of our public life has proved resilient’

- Leo McKinstry

AMID the devastation of the Covid pandemic, it is impossible not to feel a sense of pride and admiration at Britain’s remarkable vaccination programme.

Ambitious in concept, heroic purpose, and magnificent in execution, it represents a vast collective effort on a scale never before seen in peacetime.

When the virus began its malignant spread last year, our country was derided as the sick man of Europe. Now we are the envy of the world.

The Government’s faltering initial response has been replaced by the superb dynamism of the vaccine rollout, with more than 3.8 million people already inoculated.

Jabs are being administered at the rate of 140 every minute, and the NHS is on course to meet its target of 15 million jabs by mid-February, especially as 10 new centers open this week.

Despair is giving way to hope. While vaccination programmes across the EU are characterized by sluggish caution and bureaucratic inertia, Britain forges ahead. After the misery of the last 10 months, we could actually become one of the first major countries to return to normality by the summer.

THIS success story is a tribute not only to the Government’s planning and foresight but also to the strength of traditional British institutions which have risen superbly to the challenge.