Alison O'Connor: Our leaders must lead to restore trust in AstraZeneca vaccine

There has been a growing toxicity to the image of the AZ jab

Members of the British science and medical community responded with scepticism to the AstraZeneca suspension decision. Picture: AP Photo/Christophe Ena

This week last year, people were wondering whether the Cheltenham Racing Festival would ever recover from the PR hammering it was receiving.

A year is a long time in a pandemic. This year Cheltenham went ahead without the punters and our concerns, rather more crucially, centre around the reputation of a life-saving Covid vaccine. The stakes are far higher here.