It has been a long year but the end is in sight. I don’t mean that in the sense meant by an apocalyptic board carrier in Oxford Street when he proclaims ‘the End is Nigh’ to people on their way to buy a cheese and ham sandwich. No, the end is in sight in a much more prosaic way, almost certainly sans-Rapture. The end of the year. The end of the madness. A new beginning.
There is one catch. An important part of most people’s hopes for a new beginning is, of course, the Covid vaccine. Although some people think the vaccine is a highly elaborate plot by the global deep state to control the masses by the means of, er, not giving them a virus, most people are embracing the chance to inoculate themselves against the coronavirus, and preferably all memories of 2020.
Humanity being the beacon of hope and fairness that it is, this is likely to lead to the rise of medical tourism among those rich enough to jump the queue. A few tourism companies in India have launched “vaccine tours” to the UK and the US, offering to secure a dose of the Pzifer vaccine — although failing to mention that two doses are required for it to actually work.
The travel companies made clear that these trips are limited to VVIPs, which unfortunately rules me out. But I won’t be too critical. When similar packages are offered to NVIPs, I’ll be the first to sign up.