Mandatory vaccination: Perhaps it should be the law | Matt Mohan-Hickson

I am going to start this week with a bit of honesty.
A nurse delivers a flu vaccination shot in Lakewood, California. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images.A nurse delivers a flu vaccination shot in Lakewood, California. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images.
A nurse delivers a flu vaccination shot in Lakewood, California. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images.

When I saw the news that one of the coronavirus vaccines in development was highly effective and millions of doses could be rolled out in the UK before the end of 2020, I cried a few tears of joy.

Okay, it was many tears of joy.

For the vast majority of this year, it has felt like we were all trapped in a dark tunnel with no escape from the oppressive gloom.

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Yet suddenly a light had appeared at the end, still some way off in the distance - but close enough that it can actually be seen.

We truly have hope within our grasps, our life as it was pre-March 2020 could be about to return. Hugging family and friends, going out to clubs and theatres, all of it.

Obviously there are huge challenges ahead, not least actually distributing the vaccine once it is approved.

Given the many ways our government has botched the handling of the pandemic - test and trace, says hi - I am very worried that the roll out of vaccinations could be bungled and leave us all trapped in lockdowns for even longer.

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But we will also have to reckon with the spread of anti-vaxxers.

The pandemic has been a breeding ground for conspiracy theories, early on it was people blaming the virus on 5G - a subject I already made my thoughts clear on earlier in the year.

Then this seemed to evolve into folks sharing claims that it was a ‘plandemic’ to control us all - quite why governments around the globe who are traditional adversaries would all collaborate on some mass faked pandemic is beyond me.

However, the most dangerous of all is the anti-vaxxers. People who claim that vaccines are evil and it is a ruse for Bill Gates to microchip us all to track our every movement.

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I hate to break it to you, but that smartphone you are using to share your conspiracies on social media are all tracking you. Bill Gates or whoever doesn't need to microchip you to do that.

The vaccine will be a force of good. It will not only save tens of thousands of lives, but it will allow all us to reclaim the lives we had.

So maybe it is worth asking the question - should the vaccine be mandatory? For the greater good of all of us?

John Lewis Christmas Advert was a let down

Look, I know I joked about the John Lewis Christmas Advert a few weeks ago. Pretending I was worried at how insufferably twee it would be.

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But in all seriousness, I was looking forward to seeing what they cooked up for this year.

It is a true British institution now and is one of the big signposts that the festive season is upon us.

Obviously we will all have our own personal favourites – and they will all be Monty the Penguin.

But I was really disappointed by the 2020 edition. It felt disjointed and muddled. As if it was five or six adverts all smashed together.

It felt like there were too many chefs in the kitchen.

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At least it didn’t feature a cover of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ so that is something we can cheer for in 2020.

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe this year has left me jaded and unable to get into the Christmas spirit?

Best fire up a Netflix Christmas film and find out.

I am just in awe of science

I never really liked science at school. Shockingly I know but I was far more included to the humanities.

A writer preferred the subjects involving lots of writing, what a plot twist.

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I struggled to find any interest in physics and chemistry and biology at GCSE, before in a fit of madness picking physics at A-Level. I got an E, so I passed at least.

Hubris did not strike me down completely.

But throughout the whole pandemic, I have been left in awe of the scientists and the work they’ve carried out this year.

Especially seeing the different groups working across the world to produce vaccines - and treatments for Covid-19.

We are lucky to live in an age when science has reached such high and efficient levels.

Once again it has come to the rescue of humanity - a little hyperbolic I know, but that is how excited the prospect of a vaccine has left me.

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