Irish Examiner view: New normal is a step closer

Margaret Power, aged 93 receives an injection of the Pfizer vaccine from Dr. Sheenagh Macnamara at Waterford Primary Care Centre.

Today's reasons to raise an eyebrow, even briefly, about responses to coronavirus are more varied than usual but nevertheless secondary to our big-picture obligations. 

That gardaí had to break up the Saturday funeral of a Kinahan gang criminal, where around 250 maskless mourners locked Crumlin church doors to repel gardaí intent on enforcing regulations is one. That two universities, Galway and Limerick, have been hit by severe outbreaks because students ignored lockdown rules is another. That US authorities apologised to the Government because US military personnel breached Covid-19 regulations at Shannon Airport is a third. Questions around the reliability of tests undertaken by the French rugby team and management before last weekend's international is yet another.

Yet, despite these transgressions, the light at the end of the tunnel first seen when vaccines were announced last year now seems less distant. It seems to have moved from the possibly, probably stage to actuality.

That Waterford great-grandmother Margaret Power yesterday became one of the first people over the age of 85 to get a Covid-19 vaccination in the community must encourage optimism and the feeling that the tide may be turning.

The 93-year-old was vaccinated by her GP at the Waterford Primary Care Centre as part of the rollout of the national programme for over-85s. Acknowledging the release a vaccination might bring Margaret said she is looking forward to spending more time with her family, especially her great-grandchildren.

Hopefully, that release will be available to everyone in the coming weeks and months so life might then return to a new normal.