Like it or not, on 19th July many if not all of our social restrictions that have been used to manage the pandemic in the UK will be swept away. 'Freedom Day', some are calling it (unwisely, in my view). The government believe it is necessary, because of non-COVID problems such as a rise in mental health issues and the toll of the long months without 'normal' social contact. Others murmur dark and ominous predictions suggesting that it will be a disaster, with Delta-variant COVID infections still increasing and the younger third of our population not fully vaccinated. Not for the first time, our country is divided about our response to world events. But you could argue that the whole of our pandemic response from August 2020 onwards has been a giant experiment, unintentional it is true, but powerful as a guide to the rest of the world. First we selected seven vaccines which we would pre-order large supplies of, and began organising what would end up being an extraor...