NEWS 3
6February 2021 THE WEEK
...and how they were covered
Whatnext?
TheEU’stargetofvaccinating70%ofalladultsacrosstheblocbythesummerlooks“remote”,
saidIdoVockintheNewStatesman.AstraZeneca,PfizerandModernaareallreportingdelays
toEurope’ssupply.OneFrenchvaccine,fromSanofi,hasbeendelayed;anotherhasfailed.So
thecontinent’shopesincreasinglyrestontheone-jabvaccineproducedbyJohnson&Johnson,
whichmaybereadybyApril.Butevenso,Brussels“stillhasastrongargumentinfavourofits
vaccineprocurementstrategy”:withouttheEU’sjointscheme,thevaccinewarfareplayingout
betweentheEUandUKmightnowbeplayingoutbetweenall 2 7memberstates.“Goingit
alone”wouldhavebeenadisaster,particularlyforthesmaller,poorernations.
Thatdoesn’texcuseitsbehaviour,saidRobertTaylorinTheDailyTelegraph.“TheEUwas
sodisgustedthatBritainwaszoomingalonginthevaccinefastlane”thatitthreatenedthe
NorthernIrelandsettlementithad“spentthelastfouryearspreachingabout”.European
leadershavealsoirresponsiblypromotedbaselessrumoursabouttheefficacyofthe
AstraZenecajab,whilesimultaneouslydemandingmoreofitfromBritishfactories,saidTom
ChiversonUnHerd.Nevertheless,it’scrucialthat“wekeeptheEUsweet”,ratherthanstarting
areal war.“Vials,reagents,nucleotidebasesandsoonareallmadeindifferentplaces,andif
countriesstopcooperating,itsuddenlygetsmuchworseforeveryone.”Hence,presumably,the
completeabsenceof“crowing”orangryrhetoricfromtheBritishGovernment,saidDominic
LawsoninTheSundayTimes.Nooneissaying,“wetoldyouso”,or“handsoffourvaccine”.
“Thelastyearhasshownthateveninthisglobalisedage,thenationstatetrumpsthemarket,”
saidJamesForsythinTheTimes.Inthepast,itwasoftenassumedthatthelocationofyour
manufacturingdidn’tmatter.TherecentscrambleforvaccinesandPPEhasshownotherwise.
Thereareonlyafewdozenlarge-scalevaccinebioreactorsintheworld.Sixarebasedhere,
whichiswhyvaccinescanbemadeatsuch pace.Around two-thirdsof ourPPE is nowbeing
madeintheUK. Butin thelongrun, these new trendspose potentialrisks forBrexitBritain,a
nation stuck betweentheEU and theUS,“two largeeconomieswith protectionisttendencies”.
What the commentators said
AstraZenecahaspromisedto
supplyanextraninemillion
vaccinedosestotheEUby
March,saysBBCNews–still
onlyabouthalfoftheinitial
target.Itsaysitwasonlyever
obligedtomakeits“best
reasonableefforts”tosupply
thejab.BothFranceandGermany
havesaidtheywon’tgivethe
Oxford/AstraZenecavaccine
toover-65s,citingalackof
datafortheagegroup.
Belgiumhasrestricteditto
under-55s,andSwitzerland
hasdeclinedtoapproveit
fornow.However,newtrial
evidencepublishedinThe
Lancetsuggeststhevaccine
provides76%protection
afterjustonejab,and82%
afterasecondshot 12 weeks
later.Theresults alsoshow
that it hasa“substantial”
effecton transmission.Whatnext?
“Few reputationsin hist ory havemovedbetween such extremes as thatofAung San SuuKyi,”
said Richard Lloyd Parry in The Times. The 15 years of house arrest she endured under military
rulesawher celebrated asa“paragon of peacefulresistance”; her party’s landslideelection win
in 2015 wascheeredaround theworld. Yet twoyears later, she was virtuallyapariah. The
murderous ethnic cleansing ofMyanmar’sRohingya Muslim population–and her defence of
the armyresponsibleforit–appalled manyofher former admirers. But it shouldn’t have come
as asurprise, said Salil Tripathiin ForeignPolicy.Suu Kyi,75, alwaystried to keep themilitary
on side: sheeven pickedaBurmese martial song onDesertIsland Discs,reminding us that her
father founded the Burmese army andthat soldiers are“part of my family” .The generals,
though, saw it differently. Having seen their chosen party trounced in November’s election, they
fearedthebalance of power had tippeddecisively in Suu Kyi’s favour–and made theirmove.
Suu Kyi’s appeasement of the military wasafailurefromwhich her reputationmay never
recover,said Adam Simpson inTheConversation.Yether arrest isnonetheless badnews for
hercountry, where poverty is entrenched and deepethnic andreligious divisions persist. “It is
the ordinary people of Myanmar who will suffer theconsequences,”agreed MarkAlmond in
the Daily Mail. Andthe chancesof neighbouring countries stepping in to help them look slim.
Cambodia andThailand turnedablind eye to events, while Chinaisawilling guarantor of dic-
tatorships. Like it or not, hopes of restoring democracy now rest onadeal being struck between
the armyandSuu Kyi, said VasukiShastryin The Guardian. If thatdoesn’t happen, Myanmar
is likely to face prolonged unrest. After all, if November’s elections proved anything, it’sthat
“ordinary Burmese haveenjoyed the democraticdividend and are notabout to giveitup”.
What thecommentatorssaid
SuuKyi hasbeencharged
with possessing illegally
importedwalkie-talkies,
andcould facetwoyears
in jail, while President Win
Myinthasbeen charged
with breachingcoronavirus
laws bymeeting peopleon
thecampaign trail. Health
workersin 70 hospitals
have warnedtheywillnot
work underthe military
regime –asign ofgrowing
discontentover thecoup.
Military chiefs say elections
willbe held inayear. But
that hasn’t satisfiedthe
international community:
Britain hasthreatenedto
withdrawaid, andthe US
to impose sanctions on the
coup’s leaders.What was it about Tom Moore that so captivated the nation back
in April? His cheerful resolve, as he walked 100 lengths of his
garden before his 100th birthday to raise money for the NHS, was
admirable; but no one could have predicted the outpouring of affection for him that followed. Having
set himselfatargetof£1,000, he raised £33m; he releasedaNo. 1single, and wroteamemoir. He
was promoted, and he was knighted. For months, he was rarely out of the news: he even posed,
elegantly, for the cover of GQ. That interview was conducted by Stuart McGurk, who this week
tried to define the centenarian’s particular appeal. In person, Captain Tom was modest, funny and
thoughtful, he wrote, but “most of all,Iwas struck by the kind of indomitable sunny spirit that’s easy
to claim, but hard to fake”. It was not bravado, orastiff upperlip, buta“character trait, one he was
blessed to be blessed with and one he blessed everyone else with too”. During the warm, sunny
days of the first lockdown, we were encouraged by the sight of the slender, smartly dressed war
veteran, hunched determinedly over his walking frame. His death with Covid, during the cold and
rain of the third lockdown, is likely to have an equivalently demoralising effect onaweary nation.
Butthe spiritofthis good man, whose long life ended withatruly remarkable year, should continue
to inspire. “I’ve always believed things will get better,” he said in December. “The
Sun will shine again, the birds will sing and we’ll all havealovelyday tomorrow.”THEWEEK
Caroline Law
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