Jabs and gibberish

We are meant to believe that the new Covid-19 vaccines will be safe to use. I am prepared to accept that this is probably the case, but still believe that a little caution is in order before we all hug each other in excitement. It would ease my caveat laden imagination if government ministers were banned from even talking about it. When cabinet ministers tell the nation that the first vaccination was approved so quickly thanks to our leaving the EU, it reminds me of Trump claiming that his inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama’s. It is so easily disproved. So government ministers should keep their traps shut. They deserve no credit, governing a country with one of the worst death rates in the world. As scientists admit, there is a lot yet to learn about the overall efficacy of the new vaccines. They seem fairly sure that the vaccines will stop the spread of serious infection in most cases, but do not know whether and for how long immunity may occur. They do not claim that this ends Covid, but anticipate that like the flu it will remain in circulation and so will probably need annual vaccinations. We’ll have to learn to live with it, and hope that the worst of it will be contained. I read somewhere that the flu vaccination is between 40% - 60% effective. That hasn’t brought the house down. As regards the flu we’ll surely see a big decline in its prevalence this winter, as people isolate and distance themselves much more than usual.