Welcome to this issue of The Journal of Prescribing Practice and my first editorial of 2021.
For the first time since I became consultant editor, I sat down to write this and wondered just where to start. It seems that all we do, personally, professionally and, for me academically, is consider everything ‘in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’. The news is full of it, the television schedules are altered to accommodate briefings, our teaching is changing dramatically in how we deliver, and our students are again finding it hard, if not impossible, to get study time.
As many of you will know, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have also reintroduced emergency standards for nursing students in training, mainly for those in their final year (Main et al, 2021). This and the fact that the NHS is almost overwhelmed tells us that there are still challenging times ahead and we still don't know how the vaccine will perform long term. But there is optimism and also hope, now that the vaccination roll out programme is up and running, with more than one vaccine available and a tiered system of priority. My husband, a frontline doctor, has already been vaccinated and so far, the uptake is good. Many of you are facing the prospect of redeployment again, some of you will be being drafted to participate in the vaccination programme (perhaps even 24/7) and all of us are facing the next few months at least with trepidation. We are seeing friends and colleagues exhausted and some of them catching COVID-19 or needing to isolate. This is the biggest incident in all our lifetimes. The words ‘major incident declared’ mean a major incident putting a strain on staff and resources. I remember a few from my clinical time, a train accident most memorably, which saw all staff throw themselves into the situation and step up when needed most. That major incident lasted 3–5 days and the pressure eased. Staff rested and recovered, and all went back to normal. This is what is not happening with the pandemic. It is relentless, it shows little sign of abating, and the pressures on us all are huge and continuous. I am still recovering from COVID-19 and waiting for my vaccine, but the researcher in me pays heed to the fact that immunity may only last 5–6 months and does not remove the ability of the individual to transmit the infection (gov.uk, 2021).
I myself know someone who had COVID-19 just 10 months ago, he had his first jab 10 days ago and has just tested positive for COVID-19 again. This evidence means we still need to be vigilant. ‘Hands, Face, Space’, ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’. These messages will be with us for a good chunk of 2021 until we are all vaccinated. I am keeping an eye too on the reports of these new strains and what this means. There is still much to learn.
Keep being amazing.