Political column: Andrea Jenkyns MP - Increasingly bright light at the end of the tunnel

We must never forget, and never stay silent in the face of anti-Semitism. I joined with residents in lighting a candle in the memory of all those who lost their lives during the Holocaust.

Turning to our national fight against Covid-19, I would once again like to thank everybody for their efforts as we follow the rules and help to supress this virus. This is working, and we have seen a gradual reduction in infection rates across the country.

I know we will all continue to do our part in the battle against infection. As I have written before, I am encouraged by the increasingly bright light at the end of this tunnel- vaccinations.

As I write this, we in the UK are currently administering more than 250 vaccinations every minute and have given more than 7m doses out across the UK, more than 1 in 9 of our adult population.

We are currently vaccinating at a greater daily rate than anywhere in Europe – twice the rate of France, Spain, or Germany, and our progress means we are on track to offer everyone in the top four priority groups a jab by the middle of February.

Furthermore, I am excited to say that the UK is on track to have offered a vaccination to every eligible care home resident by the end of January.

I try sometimes to avoid writing statistics that are rapidly evolving as I do not want them to be out of date and not useful to you by the time of reading, but I think on this occasion it will lift spirits- how fast and how far we have come by the time you read this just a few days after writing will, I believe, bring us all some warmth during this difficult time.

There is now a large network of vaccination centres, including Spectrum Community Health CIC near the Hepworth in Wakefield which was recently opened as a large vaccination hub, and new pharmacy-based vaccination centres are coming on stream across the country.

One is based in the Wakefield Morrisons, bordering my constituency, and another in the Village Hotel in Morley- where I am pleased to say my mum got her jab last week!

I am really enjoying hearing from residents who tell me that they have had their vaccine, and how smooth the process was.

It is so pleasing that everyone I hear from has had such an uplifting experience and I know the whole nation will be wishing the hardworking teams of vaccinators well.

I welcome the rapid progress our country is making as we move ever closer to protecting our vulnerable and seeing a return to the freedoms and way of life we are working so hard for. As more data comes through and we start to see the impact of our impressive vaccination progress on the pandemic, I look forward to the Government’s review of restrictions. It is my hope that schools will reopen as quickly as possible, and that the rest of the economy will follow soon after.

As always, if residents need my help I will always do my utmost to assist, please email me: [email protected]

tribute: Andrea Jenkyns’ Holocaust Memorial Day candle.