I am sure that readers will welcome the fact that – since my last entry to the Witney Town Magazine – the Government has been able to lift all remaining Covid restrictions on individuals and businesses. We are now the most free and open country in Europe, and on course to grow our economy at the fastest rate in the G7.
It is worth pausing for a moment to reflect on how we have got here. After all, at this point last year, there were still over four and a half million people on furlough, the hospitality sector was closed, schools were only just beginning a phased return, and there were significant restrictions across all of society. But there was hope, as our extraordinary vaccination rollout was gathering pace.
We were the first country in the world to approve a Covid-19 vaccine and thanks to the success of our procurement efforts, we had secured millions of doses to be rolled out across the UK, such as at Chipping Norton Health Centre, which was among the first sites in the country to begin administering vaccines.
In the year that followed, our world-leading vaccine and booster programmes have administered 140 million doses, including some 260,000 doses here in West Oxfordshire. This is a truly remarkable achievement, for which we are all grateful to the NHS staff and volunteers involved.
What is overwhelmingly clear is that the vaccines work. They save lives, protect the NHS, and enable us to enjoy all the freedoms that make life worth living.
It is welcome that the Government has now published its long-term plan for living with Covid-19. This moves us on to a new phase of our response to Covid, moving from strict government regulations to personal responsibility, where we live with and manage Covid like other illnesses, such as seasonal flu.
The Government will maintain our resilience to manage future risks, for example through the outstanding ONS survey which will allow us to continue tracking the virus in granular detail, helping us to spot and respond to any future surges.
We should all be immensely proud of how we have, together, reached the point where we can now safely reclaim all of our pre-Covid freedoms.
As ever, if there is anything I can do to help, please get in touch at robert@robertcourts.co.uk.
