THERE is still a great keenness to get the vaccine, as shown by the two-hour long queues in Darlington on the first day that the jab was available to 25 to 29 year olds.

For the preceding months, the local vaccination service has performed with amazing precision and efficiency, so it can surely be allowed this one blip.

People want the vaccine for at least two reasons. Firstly, to protect themselves and their families from infection; secondly, to help the country reach herd immunity so we can return to a degree of normality.

Yesterday, former Prime Minister Theresa May lambasted the Government's travel policy, which she called chaotic, and asked why the Government was so "reluctant to give its citizens the freedoms the vaccinations should support".

This seems a sensible question, but then we see infection rates in practically every country on the rise once more due to the Delta variant, and we begin to understand the Government's caution. Indeed, one Government minister has this week said there should be no foreign travel this year.

But then we spot planeloads of premiers and their partners plus diplomats, advisors and hangers-on like journalists descending from at least 11 countries onto Cornwall, with the financial ministers all coming together in London. Hundreds of police from across the country have been sucked in to ensure their security.

Most will have had vaccinations; all will be tested; distancing will apply. But doesn't this suggest that, under the right conditions, international travel can be safe?