Notes from the country with Vicky Turrell

  What was I doing at eight o’clock in the morning driving along our country lane? I am shielding so this is unheard of. The sun was just rising on my right, with the rosy glow, as I turned off left to the west. I was going for my COVID jab, at last. I had my NHS vaccination letter a few days ago. You can go on the coronavirus website, once you get this letter, and look at places near you which are offering the jab. The places were a long way off. Should I book one? I have always boasted that I would go anywhere, even in the middle of the night, if necessary. I had to have a think. But before I could deliberate too much my GP surgery rang. There was a vacancy for a vaccination the next day, early morning, at our local hospital. Would I go. Yes, I would! I rolled into the car park and went straight in to register and then was vaccinated. And then I wept. It was not that it hurt or that I was scared, it was the thought of all the people involved from the laboratory to the docto...

  I am waiting for my vaccination letter. My two sisters, from Yorkshire, have already been vaccinated and know the dates of their second jab. They are older than me, but I cannot help wondering when my letter will come. Separate areas, even within Shropshire, are moving at varying speeds because of different constraints. I have heard a rumour that vaccine deliveries could be diverted, away from Yorkshire and the North East after their speedy vaccination programme, to areas which are lagging behind. The vaccine rollout is an extremely complex and intricate process. We all want equal access, of course, and it is good to know that a lot of my friends here in Shropshire have already been vaccinated. There is certainly not equal access for the birds on our bird table. The bigger and more aggressive they are, it seems, the better chance they have of getting food. The great spotted woodpecker is the winner because when it arrives all other birds disappear. Next, there is the starling...