The success of the Covid vaccination programme has been one of the few bright points in a chapter we’d all sooner forget.
And a year and a quarter into a life-changing global pandemic, it’s understandable that people are exhausted and fed-up and probably prone to making mistakes.
But still, the long queues that built up outside the vaccine clinic at the Caird Hall in Dundee this week are regrettable – and the anger and concern justified.
People who had been invited to receive their first or second doses were forced to wait outside for almost two hours past their scheduled times after large numbers of 18-29 year-olds took up an offer from NHS Tayside to turn up without an appointment.
Credit where it’s due
Fair play to the younger attendees. Their public spirit is admirable and they should be applauded for coming forward.
But clearly someone underestimated the likely level of demand. And if some people decided to walk away, rather than stick it out for two hours on a rainy afternoon, well, who would blame them?
It comes at a critical time in the fight against Covid.
NHS Tayside says it has seen a spike in infections across the region following large gatherings to watch the Euro 2020 football games.
Scotland recorded 2,999 cases on Thursday — the highest ever daily figure for the second day in-a-row – while in Fife the latest new cluster has been linked to a bar in Dunfermline.
‘They think it’s all over’ is a famous football phrase.
And as restrictions ease and the number of people receiving both jabs rises, there is a temptation to think it applies to everyday life.
But we are not quite there and it’s crucial that people continue to have faith in the vaccination programme and their place in it.
We are so close to victory; we cannot afford any more needless slip-ups this late in the game.
