Boris’s vaccine propaganda film jumps the gun

Westminster’s much anticipated summer blockbuster dropped last night: ‘A Beacon of Hope: The UK Vaccine Story’ was released on 10 Downing Street’s Twitter and YouTube accounts just after 6pm. The video was teased on Twitter on 10 March, featuring a dramatic score and a tagline ‘coming soon’, raising questions as to how ‘soon’ it would appear, what its contents might be, and whether releasing a victory video in the middle of the UK’s vaccine rollout was slightly premature.

Now we have some of those answers. The roughly 30 minute video features the pandemic’s most recognisable faces – including Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance – as well as far less recognisable figures – from the NHS to the pharmaceuticals industry – who have nonetheless played a huge role in the UK’s vaccine strategy.

The bulk of the video is a timeline of vaccine development, procurement, and rollout: a process that started gaining attention in the autumn of 2020, says Jonathan Van-Tam, but really ‘had been going on since March.’