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Andy Richardson: There is a long way to go to return to the old normal

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

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Pic: SnapperSK

A year of Covid misery may be brought to an end by scientists. Pfizer, or, as The Daily Star put it, the company that makes Viagra, has developed an effective drug.

It’s curious, therefore, that Health Secretary Matt Hanock sounded genuinely depressed on Today. Perhaps he’d just got out of bed early. It surely couldn’t have been because the Government will be depressed about handing out contracts worth billions to their mates.

The news will be welcomed by President-Elect Joe Biden, who has appointed his own panel of world-leading professors of immunology, infectious diseases, internal medicine, epidemiology and public health to bolster the American response. It’s in stark contrast to Britain’s, where Boris Johnson appointed a venture capitalist with no health experience as the vaccine tsar. She is, however, married to a Tory minister who went to school with Boris. And no, let’s no have any suggestions of cronyism.

The Government’s scientific officers have tried to keep a lid on our excitement by invoking a penalty shoot-out and warning that we’re not there yet. It’s not just Chris Waddle, Gareth Southgate and Stuart Pearce that developed severe palpitations at that analogy. Though, as Marcus Rashford is currently leading Johnson & Co by 2-0, no penalties are required.

If the vaccine is successful, the things we’ve come to love about lockdown will forever disappear. There’ll be no more crisps-for-breakfast from the comfort of the sofa/office.

There is a long way to go to return to the old normal. Even when Covid is defeated by scientists, we have other problems. Brexit is facing another crunch week as talks stall. Sir John Major, a more prescient commentator since leaving office than he was during his tenure at Downing Street, has identified dilemma in saying we are no longer an irreplaceable bridge between Europe and America. We are less relevant to them both.

As Donald leaves the White House and Biden books removal vans, we ought to remember that GB Inc is on the B-side with Europe and the USA, rather than the A. Lord Looney, sorry, Lord Kilclooney, is doing his bit to make things worse with racist remarks about the new Vice President Harris. His poetry, incidentally, is the third worst in the Universe behind the Azgoths of Kria and Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Sussex.

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