I have assiduously followed all previously lockdown rules, despite being young and healthy. I didn't see my parents last Xmas including my father who has Parkinson's and cancer, partly to protect them, but also for the sake of society.
The reason I (and everyone else who complied with lockdown) followed the rules as I saw it, was because once the vaccine system was properly rolled out, we would achieve herd immunity. The immense sacrifice of not being able to hug our loved ones, say goodbye to dying relatives, see nephews/nieces/grandchildren, make new relationships, have children of our own was all made just about bearable in the knowledge that once the vaccine was rolled out we could go back to some kind of normalcy.
Now the vast majority of the population is double jabbed, with the vulnerable all being boosted. I've happily had each and every jab, worn masks in indoor spaces etc. But now there's suggestions from some quarters that we may need another lockdown, either imminently or in January. And my question is - if most of the population is triple jabbed how long will we have to have lockdowns for?
It's been 2 years now, and it isn't it long past time that we need to start serious impact assessment of lockdowns vs Covid? Say we lockdown for a month in January... then we open up and the virus rips through again? Until we vaccinate the developing world, more variants will develop. If there's another variant next winter, will that be another lockdown? Unless politicians start giving some kind of medium to long term strategy, I can't see people complying - we're human beings and we need social contact, you can't just switch us on and off without a serious discussion and plan.