It’s official – there is a new vaccine for Covid-19, manufactured by Pfizer, that is 90 per cent effective, which is as good as it gets in the world of vaccines.

The UK has already ordered 40 million doses – enough for a third of the UK population (as you need two doses each), 10 million of which will be available towards the end of 2020.

They will be provided to people living in areas where the number of people infected by the virus is growing most strongly.

So This Writer won’t be getting it for a while (I live in the middle of Wales, which has not suffered heavy infection).

Bizarrely, the announcement comes only days after I humorously tweeted this:

Only two days out; that’s not bad!

Sadly, Boris Johnson is bad – and his Downing Street Briefing was guaranteed to make viewers cringe.

It was bad enough that he appeared on our TV screens after an uplifting speech by US President-elect Joe Biden, who welcomed the news as a cause for “hope”.

How did Johnson compare? Well…

https://twitter.com/susandb1968/status/1325848363137454082

https://twitter.com/MattEHuds/status/1325848945864617985

He turned up with Jonathan Van Tam on one side and Brigadier Joe Fossey on the other – sparking some pointed questions.

Johnson’s first words did not inspire confidence:

He went on to tell us his assessment – which, strangely enough, seems to be exactly the same as the assessment that had just been announced on all the news channels.

Then he departed from reality altogether with a comment about “tooting the bugle of the scientific cavalry” – at which point I’m sure the viewing public, as one, said: “Tooting the – what?”

https://twitter.com/EdeFaulkner/status/1325858061995618304

It may well be. I thought it was an elaborate way of introducing the military gentleman to Johnson’s left but it turns out he was just being florid. Or, if you like, daft.

Lamenting the increase in Covid infections across the UK, in hospitalisations and in deaths – which his policies have done nothing to prevent (in fact they may have actually encouraged increased fatalities), Johnson expressed his keenness to establish mass testing – a project he claimed was still “in its infancy”.

https://twitter.com/m22mjj/status/1325854179269746696

It turned out that Brigadier Fossey was there to explain how the army was carrying out mass testing in Liverpool.

https://twitter.com/gerainted/status/1325848650719883264

Unfortunately, Brigadier Fossey had considerably less impact on the public than his fictional counterpart (above).

Reading from a prepared statement, he failed to impress:

Then Jonathan Van Tam had something to say about the vaccines, and I’m sure there were questions, but I was losing the will to live by then.

The briefing as a whole was like watching an edition of children’s BBC news programme Newsround stretched to an unfeasible length and then padded with the same information – or irrelevant information – repeated time and again.

The impression I got – that I think Johnson was trying to make – was that although a vaccine is available, we’re not going to get it. At least, not for a long time.

He was saying we should continue to follow the safety procedures and restrictions that have been imposed on us since March in the meantime.

Message received – but with difficulty, due to all the flannel surrounding it.

Johnson might think it’s all part of his jolly media personality but it is just getting in the way.

And so is he.

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

---

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.

1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.

2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical

3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com

And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.

The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here: