On Tuesday 5th January 2021, PM Boris Johnson announced that England will be entering a third lockdown amid daily cases hitting a new high and NHS being overwhelmed.
With many feeling understandably disappointed by this all too familiar announcement, let us remember one major difference between now and March of last year, which means that we aren’t *quite* back at square one.
Since the breakout of the pandemic in the UK, scientists and researchers across the world and here in Britain have been working hard to develop a vaccine to help combat this virus. On the 2nd December 2020, the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Since then, the UK has also approved the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine.
According to the NHS website, these vaccines ‘have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.’
As of yesterday, English Football club Tottenham Hotspur F.C offered their North London stadium as a venue to roll out the Covid- 19 vaccines. It is likely that other English football clubs will follow suit.
Today, the PM confirmed that nearly 1.5 million people across the UK have now had their first dose, and the NHS CEO Sir Simon Stevens has said that there will be a ‘huge acceleration’ in the vaccination programme over the coming weeks.
However, this good news doesn’t mean that this third lockdown and the restrictions we will most likely face after it ends isn’t as dreary and depressing as it was before.
With that being said, below are a few UK helplines that are here for anyone who needs to talk or is in need of help; don’t suffer in silence.
UK helplines
YoungMinds- 0808 802 5544
Samaritans- 116 123
AnxietyUK- 03444 775 774
Refuge- 0808 200 0247 (24 hours)
CALM- 0800 58 58 58
OCDUK- 0333 212 7890
SHOUT- Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258 (24/7)
Many other organisations are available and can be found online.
