Signs Of A Vaccine Should Be A Source Of Hope And Pride

Infections, hospital admissions and deaths are all on the rise as winter approaches.

- Leo McKinstry

As the days shorten with the approach of winter, there seems to be no respite from the coronavirus crisis. Infections, hospital admissions and deaths are all on the rise.

In response, officialdom imposes ever-tighter restrictions on the public, with large swathes of the country now in some form of lockdown.

The economic fallout from this strategy is devastating, reflected in soaring business failures, job losses and battered state finances. Just as damaging is the impact on mental wellbeing and other healthcare, where essential treatment has been denied or delayed because of the focus on coronavirus.

As basic liberties are suspended, the sense of unity that existed in the spring has evaporated. Indeed, with Scotland and Wales adopting their own draconian policies, the very future of the United Kingdom feels in danger.

Yet amid all this gloom and discord, there is a real hope for the future. “The darkest hour is always just before the dawn,” wrote the 17th-century English theologian Thomas Fuller, and his words could well apply to our current grim predicament.

Thanks to the brilliant work of British scientists, it appears an effective anti-coronavirus vaccine might be available to some people before Christmas.