Vaccine promises must be delivered as third lockdown begins: The Yorkshire Post says

In Yorkshire the new strain fortunately hasn’t yet taken hold as much as in other areas of England, but rates are clearly rising quickly in the region while they have rocketed in other areas of the country in recent days and weeks, raising fears hospitals will be overwhelmed in some areas.

The measures – including the closure of all schools and colleges – echo much more closely the original lockdown, where both the brighter spring weather and the genuine initial sense of national unity provided some form of collective comfort. Now almost a year into the pandemic and with public trust in the Government greatly reduced, along with falling levels of general compliance with ever-changing rules combined with grim winter weather that will be with us for months, the position in some respects is much more challenging.

However, there are important reasons for hope – and for people to abide by the latest restrictions. Mr Johnson’s bold target of vaccinating the millions in the four top priority groups by the middle of February offers a light at the end of the tunnel - if that ambitious promise can be kept.

All of us as individuals have a vital role to play in minimising our contact with others and reducing the chances of catching or spreading the virus.

With spiralling case and hospitalisation rates, all the signs are that the next few weeks will be even bleaker for the country than what happened in March and April last year. We must now help each other – from a distance – through what could well be the darkest moments in the Covid crisis.

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