A lot of people seem increasingly convinced that life will be back to normal this summer. Presumably by that, they mean things like social distancing being a memory, being able to hug your granny again and being able to go to huge festivals and such.

There’s nothing wrong with people wanting this. Life has not been easy for the past year with a lot of things simply being out of the question. That said, I fear a lot of people are losing the run of themselves over this, so it might be time for some harsh reality.

The British government, in its plan for releasing England out of lockdown – details elsewhere in the UK vary – said that the earliest date for nightclubs reopening was June 21st. Notice they did NOT say “definitive date”. They said “earliest date”. See the difference?

You know the way that tickets and flyers sometimes say “lineup may be subject to change”? This date is exactly the same.

The news at the moment is that another wave of coronavirus is likely later in the year. The youngest are also the last that are due to be vaccinated against it, which suggests this wave would largely affect this group. The same group that are most likely to attend festivals, clubs, raves and so on. Do you see the problem yet?

As it happens, I’ve had the first of my two shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine. I detailed my experiences briefly last Monday about this. My second one will be during April or possibly May. So I’m less at risk than many, but I am only one part of a very big jigsaw indeed here.

Calm down out there, everyone. Otherwise, the sense of disappointment you’re going to feel at the end of June in the event of any setback is going to be very palpable…