A Break Through?

Hello, 

Day five of current new lockdown 2.0 in the UK and I am fucking done already. Last week I wrote about how, just as Mr Warehouse and I had been released from our very own personal lockdown, we go into another effing one! After Boris Johnson made his announcment last Saturday (31st October 2020) Mr Warehouse and I decided to try and keep our faith high and enjoy the last few days of freedom before things started to seem bleak again like eating out and a spot of shopping. 

Our first few days have not been too bad since the second national lockdown in the space of a year which was imposed across England. Starting at midnight on Thursday (5th November 2020) with all non-essential shops, restaurants, pubs and leisure facilities to close for at least four weeks. With these measures due to remain in place until 2nd of December 2020 (although I will state now I am doubtful that this will be the case as we are simply kicking the inevitable can down the road to further mental health issues, financial crippling and unemployment).

As I contnue to go into the office, despite government advice to “stay and work from or at home” where possible, I like many other people are starting to feel the same blues and clouds roll in as the last lockdown. Desperately trying to keep my head above water is hard on most days but some days are easier than others and like the majority of the population I too am hoping that that things might get a little better with the prospect of Christmas being a bit more closer to "normal" than the rest of the year has been. 

I hate to be all doom and gloom about it but frustratingly this was meant to be my year. Mr Warehouse's year. To get married and have a cracking wedding that would be remembered for years. To have an amazing Hen do that would be joked about until we can no longer remember the original reference and a stag do to never be spoken of. To have an amazing honeymoon just enjoying each other on a beach somewhere with white, sandy, coconut lined beaches and cocktails a plenty. A year for spa breaks and weekends away with the dogs, just me an my future husband. A year to maybe start thinking to the future and who we might like to create to share it with. 

A year that has been stolen from me. Stolen from us. No wedding. No honeymoon. No hen or stag. Nothing. I almost feel like giving up on the whole thing, sacking it in and saying "HEY FUCK YOU CORONA" because she has ruined everything. I dont even feel joy when I think about the wedding. I just feel dread and grey because the prospect that it might not happen a second time around is a real possibility and I really dont know what I will do if I have to make that heart-agonising descision another time around. I just cant. 

Although, just as I was yet again loosing hope at my desk this morning I had a ray of sunshine through those dark storm clouds. it seems as though there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. News broke this morning after whispers from Mr Warehouse's place of work that a new drug was on its way and today as announced by many media outlets, including The Independant, that the huge pharmaceutical company Pfizer have produced a new coronavirus vaccine that is 90% effective (or at least as far as the early data suggests). The news article claimed that Scientists have hailed a major breakthrough after Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced that their vaccine appears to be 90 per cent effective in preventing disease. So far the vaccine has been tested on over 43,000 people in six countries and has so far proven to be safe for human use, raising hopes that the pandemic could be brought under control by summer of next year. The Independant report continues that the green light for the vaccine could be granted in the coming weeks, with the UK government “hopeful” that doses will be made available for Christmas. 

In an announcement this evening from the PM, Boris Johnson, this evening during a Downing Street press conference he said that whilst it was “very early days”, the vaccine had cleared a "significant hurdle” but insisted that the country cannot afford to “slacken our resolve at such a critical moment”. The Independant news article continues to explain in detail how the UK government has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer candidate, 10 million of which are due to be delivered by the end of the year if approval is granted. however, the longevity of the immune response provoked by the vaccine also remains unknown

But how does it work and who will get it? It is said that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of two doses, meaning up to five million people in the UK could be inoculated over the winter period. England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam described the vaccine announcement as a huge milestone and said it was good news for other future vaccines in development. 

Authorities have stressed that initial supplies of the vaccine will be limited. The Independant goes on to say that an estimated 50 million doses - enough to vaccinate 25 million people - are expected to be available globally by the end of the year, with further aims to manufacture a total of 1.3 billion doses throughout 2021. 

It is silly to think however that this new Pfizer vaccine will be able to stop the UK’s mounting second wave however maybe we can be hopeful that it may prevent future waves and maybe, just maybe we can get back to living a normal life. As England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said the results demonstrated "the power of science against Covid”. 

It just makes you wonder doesnt it really; In the space of nine-months we have found a possible vaccine against a deadly wave of flu-like virus - So why have we not found a cure for cancer or genetic disabilities or AIDS? Unless someone has but companie make more money out of people being sick than people being well. Besides a controversial poit could be made that it is natures way of culling the population and keeping the numbers down?! But maybe that is for another day ... 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx