Simon Jones: Change on the horizon

News earlier this week of findings from BioNtech and Pfizer’s late stage clinical trial results on its Covid-19 vaccine gave the entire world cause for optimism heading into 2021. Stock markets rallied, the values of airlines rocketed, and normally cautious politicians and experts started to talk about a return to normality – possibly as early as spring 2021.

Without wanting to sound like a party pooper, optimism and hope should, at the moment at least, be tempered by some of the questions that remain. Cases of Covid-19 vary greatly, and we don’t know if the vaccine will protect against mild, moderate or severe cases or even how long a vaccine will be effective for. Similarly, we also don’t know if the vaccine can block transmission in asymptomatic people, because it’s ultimately this that will allow us to truly move on from the pandemic.