I realized how much of a benefit it is to get numbers low DURING the vaccination campaign over the last few days--so many stories in other countries (particularly India right now) of people being very careful and then catching covid during their vaccine appointment and dying.

We managed to get into a really good position to vaccinate our vulnerable population, and there's a good chance that now we're opening up we'll get to keep that progress. As someone not yet vaccinated, I feel better going out and meeting people with covid levels so low than I would if we were awash with infections. My friends in the US are only venturing out and feeling safe when they're two weeks after their second dose, while here in Scotland I feel very confident in meeting people outside and in limited indoor settings (I met a friend at a toddler play cafe this week) knowing that the rate here based on randomised testing is something like 1 in 600 people infected. This lockdown has been really hard, but resisting the repeated calls to throw open the doors as soon as the rate started dropping was the right call, I think. Things seem very safe right now. And the last few weeks everyone I know has taken full advantage of the relaxation to do loads of social mixing and numbers are STILL falling, which is a great sign going forward.