Boris Johnson is right to be cautious about the success of a vaccine

Editorial: Expectations are running far ahead of reality. There have been too many false dawns and broken promises for comfort

(AP)

Although we know the capacity of the Johnson government to make a hash of even the most beneficent of gifts, the Covid vaccine should soon be distributed to GP surgeries, care homes and hospitals. Within weeks a national programme of inoculation will be under way. Lives will be saved, suffering reduced, and the economy set for recovery. By the anniversary of the first lockdown in March 2021, it may be possible, to borrow from the Queen’s broadcast, for Britain to meet again. A spontaneous pint in a pub will no longer be a far-off fantasy.  

Perhaps. For the joy that has broken out in the hours since the official announcement seems almost hubristic. Despite, for a change, the prime minister’s efforts to dampen down the optimism, expectations are running far ahead of reality. There have been far too many false dawns and broken promises for comfort.  

The discovery of a new mutation of the virus in Danish mink farms, for example, is as disturbing as it is bizarre. The new vaccine may not be as effective against this new mutation, or future mutations. Like the cold and flu viruses, the researchers may find themselves in a constant game of catch-up, with annual vaccinations having only a limited effect of suppressing illness.