Grateful...

It's almost exactly a year since we watched the announcement that we would need to 'lockdown' - not properly of course, we'd not close the borders or track anyone arriving, or trace contacts of anyone who'd been near an infected person properly... none of that... and we'd also open up too early, and encourage people to pack into pubs and restaurants... 

But while the politicians were wasting billions, the scientists got to work - the experts, the researchers, helped by a brave army of people who signed up to trial the vaccine and be part of the accelerated effort to create a vaccine that was effective and safe. I thank them all...

Today, I took an important step towards safety for myself, family and friends, and to a resumption of travel and other much-missed elements of every day life. I am 58 this year, and this has proved to be one of the advantages of being that age... for those younger colleagues reading this, your time will come and remarkably soon. Keep distancing, hand washing and mask wearing. 

My colleagues in school have carried out over 2100 tests in the last week, and thousands more kits went home today for home testing between now and Easter.

Just watch this thread of tweets, and remember that the politicians were told...

One year ago, tonight. There was a stunningly accurate clarion call from Professor John Ashton on @bbcquestiontime. "The virus is amongst us!" "We have lost the plot" "We have lost control here!" "The government's approach ... has not done what needs to happen!" #COVID19 1/5 pic.twitter.com/L2XxGv1GCv

— Dr Gabriel Scally (@GabrielScally) March 12, 2021