At the time of writing this, we have woken to national headlines brimming with optimism following some fantastic news about the Coronavirus vaccine.
The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use.
British regulator, the MHRA, has said it is safe for rollout next week, with the vaccine offering up to 95 per cent protection against the virus.
This really is a remarkable global achievement, but we should also note the speed at which the UK has focused the effort to ensure we can begin to roll the vaccine out to the most vulnerable as quickly as possible.
With immunisations set to begin as early next week, the global effort has meant this process has been fast-tracked but has followed the exact same developmental steps and of course safety checks and procedures.
The UK has already ordered 40million doses - enough to vaccinate 20million people and I hope this brings us all some much-needed positivity ahead of the turn of the year.
This is just the news we needed after the national lockdown as I know it has been disappointing that Somerset is now in Tier 2, having previously been in Tier 1.
However, these decisions have been made to ensure our local NHS is not overwhelmed with infections having slightly risen a few weeks back. There is no doubt the lockdown has flattened that curve and I am hopeful that following the two-week review, there may be some positive news ahead of the festive period. For now, we must stay vigilant safe in the knowledge that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
