BRITAIN is on course to enjoy a summer approaching normality, with businesses and the hospitality trade starting the long process of adjusting to the new normal, as we take another step down the Government’s roadmap to reopening society.

The number of people dying from Covid 19 is dropping quite quickly, and the success of the vaccination programme has helped put Britain in a position that is envied around the world, as a third wave tears across continents.

Speaking on Thursday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said vaccines are clearly breaking the link between Covid cases and deaths in the UK and were saving “thousands of lives”.

However, it has emerged that there is a risk attached to the AstraZeneca jab. It is a small risk – about one-in-a-million of dying – but it does exist.

If we shut the vaccination programme because of that risk, there would be many hundreds, many thousands, of deaths per million of the population. Therefore, it is a risk worth taking – it is much riskier to face Covid unprotected than it is to have the AZ vaccine.

But it is understandable that this will shake confidence in the vaccine, and if you get offered the AZ vaccine the day after your 30th birthday, you will have to have a ponder.

In our cynical era, we should acknowledge that our health authorities are being extremely open and honest in presenting this information, and that they are probably being extremely cautious in their recommendations.

The best, and the least risky, advice remains to have the vaccination as soon as you are called.