The uplifting news about a vaccine raises hopes of a return to normal

Normally, in the northern hemisphere, the bleakness of the short days would be counter-balanced by the prospect of coming festive joy.

This year we do not even know the extent to which families will be able to spend Christmas together.

At Stormont, the abnormal system of mandatory coalition involving a party that wants to prove that Northern Ireland is a failed state, adds fresh complexity to the Covid response.

This newspaper has been trying to confirm reports that the DUP and Sinn Fein have compromised between their differing instincts, of loosening lockdown and tightening it.

Around the world governments are grappling with the response to coronavirus.

So it is little surprise that there were reported to be “tears of joy and celebrations” as interim results of the drug company Pfizer’s new Covid vaccine were announced to employees.

Preliminary analysis has found the vaccine to be more than 90% effective.

This is a thrilling development.

We have gone from being told, back in March, that a vaccine might come quickly because the world was working on it, to beginning to fear that there would never be one.

Now the US Federal Drug Administration is seeking to fast track approval of the vaccine.

This is by no means the end, but it might be the beginning of the end. A vaccine will take many months to distribute to the entire population. But now at least people can see a possible exit route from the disaster of lockdowns, and the utterly uneven impacts they have on populations, and from the daily worry of loved ones who are vulnerable becoming infected.

This is not a time to let up on voluntary social distancing and other precautions such as hand washing. Ongoing vigilance is needed, with luck for only a few more months.

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