I had the second Covid-19 vaccine, but the possibility of new variants hangs over us like the sword of Damocles.

Before I had the first dose of the BioNTech, Pfizer vaccine, the government had already announced that the second jab should be administered twelve weeks after the first one. The decision was indubitably contrary to the recommendations made by the manufacturers. Also, Dr Ugur Sahin, one of the two inventors, had made a pellucid statement that the maximum gap between the two doses could be six weeks. But the government did not give a fig about their opinions. Their decision was set in stone. Eventually, everyone, including the powerful media gave it up, and there was no mention of the need to have a reduced gap between the two jabs. There was even a suggestion that one jab provided sufficient protection. But it was rejected straightaway.

Recently, they have budged an inch. The guidance was issued to the effect that one might get the second vaccine a week earlier i.e., in the eleventh week.

To bring the virus under control, the Prime Minister’s advisors are working like a dog. I am sure, they would be awarded generously. The ones with knighthoods or having no awards, would be elevated to the House of Lords. If someone already holds a peerage, he or she might get a plum job either at the United Nations or with the World Health Organisation.

The Labour Party is barking up the wrong tree by demanding an immediate public enquiry about the spread of Covid-19 infection. It is not prudent to agitate for an enquiry when the people are still dying, albeit not in large numbers, and there is an imminent danger of a third wave.

The government’s record has not been laudable.

When everybody was clamouring to get hold of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), they did not deem it essential. The consequence of that was that many consultants, junior doctors, GPs and Nurses sadly died. Eventually, when it arrived, the bulk of it turned out to be fake.

In many countries of the world, face masks were worn, but last summer I heard it myself, at the Downing Street press conference, a suggestion that the science was not clear about its benefits. This was surely a common-sense matter. Due to their shilly-shallying, probably we were the last country in the world making the masks de rigueur.

We are at the top of the list with the highest number of deaths in the world. Italy is at number two.

Economically, our fall was the worst since the last 300 years.

Successive lockdowns inflicted immeasurable misery on the people. Majority of them have been cooping up for the last more than a year.

The children’s loss of education is tremendous.

Finally, it is a bitter truth that the venture of test and trace was allocated £37 billion. According to a report by the House of Common’s Public Accounts Committee, there is still no evidence of its effectiveness; and it is not clear whether its contribution to reducing infection level can justify “unimaginable” costs.

One may ask: What worse could we expect? The worst has already come. As stated supra, we are already at the top of the death list.

Only aspect of the matter, where the credit goes to the Prime Minister is for his breakneck pace of vaccination. He had placed timely orders for the vaccine in bulk with different manufacturers. Surely, it was done at his initiative, and he is justified to speak about it braggingly.

European Commission President Dr Ursula von der Leyen considered the issue of ordering the vaccine flippantly. Hardly a day passes when she does not make throwaway comments scapegoating the UK. It would have been better had she faced up to her lackadaisical approach to deal with the pandemic. She should have adroitly accepted her preposterous omission not to order and pay for the vaccine in time and of sufficient quantity. She should have resigned from her job.

In the UK, we hope that the recent lull in infections is not ephemeral. But we know that last summer infections petered out as well. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was seen serving the meal without a mask in a restaurant. It proved to be a mirage.The next wave came with a vengeance.

Before I conclude, I narrate an interesting incident.

Mr friend got an invitation for the first dose of the Pfizer jab. He took with him his wife who was a few weeks behind him to receive the vaccine. It was in the late afternoon when he reported at the vaccine centre. On his turn he informed the head of the centre that he would like to have one half of the jab and the other half to be given to his wife.

He added:

“I’m not asking for any favour. I’ve the right to get one full dose. But I prefer the remaining half to be given to my wife.”

He was advised:

“You can have a full jab, and you may come back with your wife before the closing time. There’s every probability that some doses are left unused, and your wife would get one.”

The wife got the jab.

Concluding the titled post, I booked my second jab. The earliest date available was a week later i.e., on the first day of the 12th week since the first dose. I was worried because the EU was threatening to block the vaccine export to the UK. Thankfully, the threat like many before turned out to be hollow one.

I got the vaccine. As in the case of the first jab, there was not any reaction whatsoever. I did not feel a thing.

The good question is:

Should I feel safe?

I doubt it. The sword of Damocles is still hanging over head. According to the advisors even two jabs of any available vaccine might not be effective to control the foreign variants.

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