Here we go again...
It was all going so well. Too well. Life felt almost normal. Old normal. Pre Covid normal. Cinema visits again. Cafes, shops, anything indoors felt, simply, indoors once again. Trains, buses, dinner parties, meetings, you name it, I have been doing it. At first cautiously, then almost without a care in the world.
Until this weekend. News of a new variant with scary numbers of mutations showing vaccine escape hit the headlines and global panic ensued.
I should have been fine. I am now booster vaccinated. I had my third shot of Pfizer weeks ago. Up to 95 percent immunity, say the headlines. To Covid as we knew it. Possibly not to this new version. Deep joy.
Christmas plans are well underway. Family gatherings, Xmas meals. To be worried or not to be worried is the question.
Boris assures us we will be fine. Cue hollow laughter. Trust in the Government is even lower than thought possible.
This variant was found in South Africa but even a nigh on immediate flight ban has not stopped cases popping up everywhere. Here, in Europe, in Canada, in the USA. Hotel quarantines and red lists are back on the agenda but obviously this will only buy time now our world has returned to pre pandemic global village status. We are all in this together now.
I have now had two sleepless nights listening to medical experts arguing over the merits of what to do, how much to worry, is this "overkill" or is this the start of worse to come.
Today the UK Government announced an immediate increase in booster availability, now eligible to everyone over 18 and with the gap reduced to 3 months after the second dose rather than 6.
Critics say this is an abundance of caution, no one with this new variant is as yet very ill. Medics say it is too early to say and vaccines, even with the possibility of vaccine escape, are our best defence.
My instincts tell me this Government does nothing that has dire consequences for our recovering economy unless it fears a worse outcome if it does not. Airline share prices plummeted when news broke of flight bans, tourism firms have taken an immediate hit, and consumer confidence is shaken at the very time struggling businesses need an Xmas boost. Restrictions imposed over the last 3 days were not done lightly.
Mask wearing is mandatory. PCR tests for returning travellers mandatory. Isolation for new variant contacts regardless of vaccine status mandatory.
Its beginning to look a lot like Xmas. Last Xmas. Not again. Please God not again!
