I’d be happy if Covid restrictions went beyond 21 June – it will mean greater protection for us all

Vaccinations are key. As we all should know by now, no one is safe until everyone is safe

There seems to be quite the movement getting going to postpone the scheduled “end of lockdown” on 21 June. Good. I’m in no hurry to regain all my cherished freedoms if there is a chance of not being around to enjoy them.

The trends in covid infections and hospitalisations are trending upwards again, the “Delta” variant (the virus formerly known as B.1.617.2, aka the so-called Indian variant of concern) is believed to be more infectious than its predecessors, and growing in prevalence – amid warnings of a third wave.

Scary stuff, and it may not come to pass; but the precautionary principle - and the balance of risks - surely means that we must now start to consider our immediate options. Boris Johnson said the other day that “we may have to wait”, and the chorus of ministers and experts is growing more insistent. It is encouraging, and the opinion polls reveal a great deal of public disquiet about the great unlock.

There will be an official review ending with an announcement on 14 June about what will happen on 21 June. Can you see what’s wrong with that? That’s right - it’s policy being driven by dates not data, which, we’re told, is the wrong way to do things. By 14 June, in other words it may then be too late to restrain the increase in cases and the spread of the disease - a repeat of the errors made in the spring and winter of last year. It will cost lives.

The good news is that hospital admissions are still flat across large parts of the country. But as real time data is analysed, it could become clear in the coming days that a tipping point has been reached, and that the vaccines are beginning to lose the race with the Delta virus. If that happens, the next unlock should be postponed until such time as the vaccination programme offers proper protection . And much more needs to be done to persuade and encourage people to take the vaccine. Tough decisions are looming about, for example, making the vaccine mandatory for people working in the NHS and care sectors; and a similar debate will take place about schools, public transport and workplaces more generally.

We have a choice. Either, to borrow a sad old phrase of the prime minister’s, we make some further sacrifices now to “send the coronavirus packing”, and make the country (and the economy) as long-term Covid-secure as possible via vaccination - or risk missing this last opportunity and being subject to local – and possibly national – breakouts of the disease.

People often say to me that if I’ve had my two jabs (which I have) why worry? The answer is two fold, of course. First, even with two doses and the impressive improvements in therapeutic treatments and techniques in the past year, there is still the risk of becoming very ill from Covid-19, and of long covid, for all age groups.

The second reason for legitimate concern for the double-jabbed, and everyone else for that matter, is that they’re aren’t yet enough of us. Vaccination works on the individual level and the communal level - and herd immunity becomes more effective the greater the proportion of a given population have had the vaccine (two jabs, that is), and thus can stop the virus spreading on a community basis. We are not there yet in Britain, and certainly nowhere near that in the world as a whole. As we all should know by now, no one is safe until everyone is safe, and rich nations have done far too little to help poorer countries build their defences. We need a bit of imagination here - to think through the consequences of a new variant and the damage it could do.

Maybe more variants – perhaps with the potential to be more deadly – are inevitable, and we should just all go back to the old ways, chuck the masks away and take our chances. But that is surely too defeatist when the vaccine programme has gone so well, when we’ve all made so many sacrifices, and when we still have a chance of getting on top of the situation.

A few weeks more of waiting and living under the current regime - far from intolerable in this sunny weather - must be worth it.