A ‘normal’ Christmas will still elude many Scots this year - Martyn McLaughlin

No matter what you might be wishing for this Christmas, the prospect of a relatively typical festive season is reason for everyone to be thankful.

For the first time in three years, families and friends will be able to gather together to celebrate without the pandemic playing havoc with their plans and expectations. Of course, that is not to say that Covid-19 is not gone. In the week to December 18, there was an average of 872 patients in hospital with the virus, and there are still many – too many – people dying.

But with around 15 million doses of vaccines having been administered since the first jab was given more than two years ago, we are in a far better position to enjoy the festivities this time around, and reflect on the extraordinary and torrid winters that have past.

Indeed, it is easy to forget how the pandemic laid siege to previous Christmas holidays. In 2020, the restrictions were significantly tightened, with gatherings on Christmas Day limited to a maximum of eight people from three households. That preceded a further wave of measures, with all non-essential retailers and hospitality outlets closing across nearly every part of Scotland.

Last year, meanwhile, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant saw cases surge by 50 per cent in the week before Christmas, leading to increased restrictions on large-scale live events and indoor public spaces, as well as appeals for people to reduce their contacts and say at home.

Mercifully, no such restrictions are in place this year. Even so, it will still be a trying time for a great many people. Rampant inflation has hit hard at an expensive time of the year, and plummeting temperatures have left many fearful about their utility bills. Normality, an oft-overused word in recent years, is still some way off.

Even so, at this time of year, let us give thanks to others who have made life that little bit easier. Without the NHS, the threats posed by the pandemic would be even more severe. The workers in our national health service are already experiencing a tough winter, and for those at the frontline, this Christmas will be anything, but peaceful. They deserve our gratitude.