2020 was an awful year, which saw more than70,000 British people die from Covid-19, with many hundreds of thousands more dying across the world.

It also saw restrictions to what we could do, which have been the most severe since the Second World War. We now face a very difficult January and February, when it is likely that the infections and death rates will increase further.

It is good that vaccines are now coming on stream, but it will take a while before their impact can really be felt. They hold out the hope for a better future but not for a few months yet.

In the meantime, it makes sense that we all stick to the rules, keep wearing face masks and continue social distancing and keeping any social meetings to a bare minimum for essential activities such as work that cannot be done from home.

With the vaccines providing some light at the end of a very long dark tunnel, it would be sensible to do all we can to keep ourselves and others safe.

Then we can look forward to getting through the crisis and building a better and fairer country afterwards.

Peter Sagar, Newcastle.