Northern Ireland can ill-afford any let-up over vaccine effort

With the number of coronavirus-related deaths remaining stubbornly above 20 each day, and new infections too high for comfort, this feels like the wrong time to be loosening restrictions.

We remain in the depth of winter, the virus is still circulating widely, the impact of the vaccination programme has been limited and it’s highly likely that if the Executive had voted to loosen the lockdown from February 6, it would have contributed to another spike in new cases.

As hospitality and business leaders said before this current lockdown was introduced, constantly opening and shutting, like they were doing through the summer and autumn months, causes more damage than actually remaining shut.

There would be little point in retailers, restaurants and hoteliers reopening their doors in early February, only to be closing them a matter of a few weeks later.

Vaccination remains the key to ending this nightmare, and the signs are mixed about whether the programme is running smoothly as our health leaders have claimed. Earlier this week a fresh consignment of the vaccine arrived in the Province and Northern Ireland was said to be ahead of other parts of the UK, but today we report that at least one GP surgery has cancelled its vaccination clinic for two days because its expected supply didn’t materialise.

With each day that people’s jabs are missed, so their vulnerability to the virus continues, and public confidence in the process is damaged. The Department of Health claims that the vaccination of the over-80s should be complete next week, and yet there are people in that age group who have yet to be contacted about their first jab.

If the vaccination programme falters, then it seems likely that the current draconian restrictions will be with us longer than expected and that is deeply unsatisfactory.