Summer Beckons

And so at last the seasons turn. The weather grows warm, inexorably so. Finally is time to put winter behind us. For a time. It will come again, that is unavoidable. Perhaps too another wave of the pandemic. It will, in some form, always be with us. Our government is not interested in adopting a zero covid strategy, and thus neither is the world. We shall limp through this crisis with the benefit of only time. There will be no support. If another wave happens, as is distinctly possible, I think the country might explode. 

Meanwhile the summer beckons. At worst this will be a brief respite, if things get worse subsequently. I guess it all depends how quickly they open everything up. Believing that we can open everything up however is a fool's errand. The presence of the virus clearly indicates that, somewhere along the line, there is a limit. One that is not commensurate with what the government would like, and no amount of profiteering will change that. You can't buy off a virus.

Maybe the vaccine will help. It's bound to, in some form. But it is uncharted science. A first attempt at a reaction to a novel virus. We have no idea how long the vaccine will be effective. So far it doesn't appear to be aversely affecting people. If, as is likely, boosters are required, perhaps every autumn/winter, how long will it take to administer those to the population? It will take, at least, the best part of six months, to give everyone their first treatment. We don't even know if that will induce herd immunity. 

There are variants to consider. There will always be variants. This virus is too prevalent in the world for that to be avoided. So many unknowns. What we do know is that international travel will trump virus safety. Government can pay lip service to border controls, ironically, but it's meaningless if they don't actually enforce them. This virus only requires a few people to be super spreaders. It doesn't need a large regular cohort moving across the globe. One or two people bringing the virus can cause an outbreak. The Tories won't care though.