Dose of genius
THERE have been precious few causes for celebration during the long Covid-19 fight but the rollout, from today, of the first half a million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is certainly one of them.
The vaccine is a brilliant example of British scientific expertise, determination and ingenuity in the face of adversity.
It gives hope not just to the people of this nation but to the world.
We should be mightily proud of Prof Sarah Gilbert and her team of vaccinologists, as we are proud of the thousands of Sun readers who have already stepped forward to join our Jabs Army.
It is vital that we get the life-saving vaccines out to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, and those selfless volunteers stand ready to help in this huge logistical task.
The vaccines are our road to freedom; our means of escape from the tyranny of this dreadful disease.
In the meantime, cases are rising alarmingly and our heroic health workers are under huge pressure.
So there may yet be a need for more and tougher restrictions before we return to the normality that we crave.
But, rest assured, we will get there.
Bug innocents
CHILDREN remain least likely to fall ill from coronavirus and yet they are bearing an unfair brunt of the pandemic with the effect it has had on their education.
The most vulnerable kids have suffered the most and the gap between disadvantaged youngsters and their more privileged schoolmates will continue to grow while classrooms are empty.
That is why Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield is right to say that any school closures should be for “the absolute minimum of time”.
With the increased spread of the mutated virus, it would be wrong to suggest teachers do not have concerns.
So we applaud the staff of a school in Gravesend who took advantage of vaccines that might otherwise have gone to waste so that they can continue to teach.
Everything that can be done should be done to get teachers vaccinated and feeling safe.
Then children can get back into class.
Tell ’em Pike
WHO do they think they are kidding?
The increasingly woke BBC warned viewers that the 1971 Dad’s Army movie contained discriminatory language.
Those determined to take offence will always find something to offend them.
But the problem with putting such disclaimers on even the most innocuous programmes is that the warnings cease to have any meaning when applied to genuinely offensive content.
Or maybe BBC chiefs really do fear a strongly-worded letter from neo-Nazis upset at Hitler being called “shabby”.
Stupid boys.
