James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will the government be left suffering from ‘long Covid’?

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The first full week of the new national lockdown had the potential to be very difficult for Boris Johnson. Although just 34 Tory MPs voted against this England-wide measure, many more are unhappy about it. They have, as Tory MPs now do when they come across things they dislike, set up a group with a three-letter abbreviation: in this case, the CRG (Covid Recovery Group), which will oppose further lockdowns. Adding to the discontent among backbenchers, No. 10 had just U-turned on extending free school meals into the holidays. Tory MPs were left wondering why — as with exam result appeals — they had bothered taking so much flak from the media and the public if the government was going to give way in the end.

But the mood among the Tory parliamentary party is much better than anyone would have predicted a week ago. This is the magic of the Pfizer vaccine announcement. Johnson has attempted to downplay the breakthrough, partly to encourage adherence to lockdown and partly to allay disappointment if there is some last-minute hitch. But the news has persuaded MPs that finally there may be an end in sight to the crisis. As one minister puts it: ‘The problem has been that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.’ Now there is.

No. 10’s caution is understandable. There are huge logistical obstacles to overcome before the vaccine can be rolled out. It needs to win approval from the regulators (although if it passes the safety test, that should happen quickly). It must also be kept colder than the North Pole until it is sent out to be delivered to patients. But in Whitehall the view is that Pfizer’s vaccine breakthrough will be followed by others because the apparent success shows that a mRNA vaccine (rather than one using a weakened or dead form of the virus) can work.

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