If you’re searching for something utterly random, where the name gives no clue as to what it’s describing, what you can expect from it or what relation if any it bears with anything else, then you need look no further than the names of cocktails, cricket terms and English pubs. Variant Tom Collins, Variant Cover Point and Variant Coach and Horses tick all these boxes. They’re no more annoying than, for Mac users, the names of the various operating systems of OSX that were for many years named after big cats. I could never remember whether I was a Mountain Lion or a Snow Leopard, nor which was better or more recent. That’s the idea – each variant is just another thing, sort of related but also sort of not. As it is, I get the faint feeling that Variant Mu, Nu and all the rest of them have been and gone but that no one bothered to tell us, which doesn’t fill me with confidence. Also , under the current system, what happens after Omega? Nothing happens – ask any theologian.

• Whatever it’s called, the new variant has certainly got our attention. The PM’s promise to save Christmas may yet again be tested. There will, in any case, be fewer things to buy this year to celebrate it, which may be no bad thing. Who really needs pigs in blankets anyway? The booster programme has been stepped up, which it should have been anyway at this time of year.

• Some people, however, don’t believe in the efficacy of the vaccine. Aside from those who claim it is plain evil and mind-warping (which I think has been dealt with by the lack of any evidence), there are also more persuasive arguments that they are not as efficacious as predicted, particularly when it comes to reducing transmission. Many of these appear to emanate from the vaccine-sceptical HART group which, as this article in Logically explains, is attempting to develop a line into Westminster and Whitehall through its PR and lobbying work. There also seems to be conflicting evidence (see here and here), which I confess I don’t understand, as to how many people hospitalised with Covid were vaccinated.

The problem seems to be that we’re dealing with an ever-changing number of variables. Firstly, it’s been known that the vaccines’ efficacy wanes over time (hence the boosters), so how long ago we were jabbed will affect our risk. Secondly, the different vaccines will all show different characteristics. Thirdly, it was never claimed that they’d eliminate transmission and they aren’t “sterilising” vaccines. Fourthly, more of us are getting jabbed or boosted every day, so the percentage of those in hospital who have at one time been double jabbed will increase. Fifthly, people who’ve been double jabbed are (probably) less likely to do home tests and, of those that do, some are more likely to report negative results than others.

All this would seem to require a digital model of vast complexity and even then it would be dealing with imperfect inputs. And this is without the fact that, as Monty Python’s Brian reminded us, we are all individuals. Many models depend on the abstract idea of a hundred centi-tuplets. As it is, even identical twins don’t seem to develop identical symptoms. It hits us all in different ways. Years ago I caught Hep A from sharing an infected tuna sandwich with a friend of about the same age. I nearly died but was back to normal in four weeks. He was running on about half power for five months. Why should Covid be any different? Nor does it seem a surprise that transmission is still possible if you’re jabbed. All in all, it’s probably wise to regard your vaccinations not as a magic bullet, nor even a suit of armour, but rather as a shield which will be as effective as the ways in which you use it. One of these is self-interestedly altruistic – protecting others from your own possible infections in the hope that they will reciprocate.

• Armed with the idea that any of us can spread the virus, the return of face masks seems a reasonable idea. These are a good example of altruistic behaviour as they offer more protection to others than to the wearer. Many are a bit useless but there’s plenty of evidence that they’re better than nothing. I’ve generally used one these last few months in shops because it seems (a) polite and (b) protective of the retailers, who have hundreds of people coming in every day. What I can’t get is how this has been turned into a civil-liberties issue. It’s a public-health one.

The same point could, as has, been made about lockdowns, with plenty of recent demos. I’ve heard of even odder protests, such as people standing for hours in parks to protest against restrictions. The accusation is that these public-health measures are examples of state control that we must resist, lest were perish. I’m really struggling to understand how any government derives any political, repetitional or economic benefit from these measures. There are so many things that governments do which are worth protesting about, such as the Police, Crimes and Sentencing Bill and the continued failure to meet climate-change ambitions with meaningful legislation on matters such as house-building policy. Why are we wasting our time bitching about face masks?

• The HART group and others of their ilk will doubtless be preparing for a fight in Germany where the government has just announced that unvaccinated people will be banned from shops and bars.

• The booster programme does seem to have kicked in a bit recently, as the government promised. Ten days ago I visited the NHS website and was offered an appointment in Oxford on 22 December which didn’t work for me on any level. A week ago I was proposed one in Marlborough on 18 December: far from ideal but I booked it. On Monday, Penny discovered imminent appointments in Wantage, two of which we took and were duly jabbed on 1 December. If you don’t get the appointment you want then take it but check again and re-schedule if a better one comes up. The grit in the machine is that some sessions, like the pop-up booster clinics in Hungerford (and doubtless elsewhere) this month don’t get offered as options and there’s a separate booking (or walk-in) system for these. Keep your eye on local information sources, like Penny Post, for information.

• The season of Christmas parties is now upon us. These were discussed – if that’s the right verb – at PMQs this week. Much of the attention was on an event that took place in Downing Street almost a year ago. It seems there were more than one of these while the rest of us were stuck at home. Part of me has stopped being surprised, or even cross, at these kind of stories. As for this year, the official advice remains unchanged that they can go ahead. However, it seems likely that most people will be following JVT’s advice and not tearing the pants out of it. This remains as wonderfully vivid a phrase as when he first uttered it at a Covid press briefing last year.

• Moving away from problems at number 10…oh, hang on. It’s recently been announced that the Cabinet Office has been fined £500,000 for data breaches relating to the 2019 honours list when the recipients’ addresses were available on line for over two hours. Given the number of staff the Office employs (to say nothing of the consultants) and the example it should be setting – but has not always set – on adhering to its own regulations, this seems a bit pathetic. I also wonder who is really paying the fine. If it’s a company, it (and thus its shareholders) do. Who owns the shares in the Cabinet Office? I suppose we do. In round numbers, that’s about 1p from every adult in the country. I’ve got mine ready by the front door for whenever the collector comes round to get it.

It also seems to have taken two years to sort out and that was with the CO not even disputing the crime. How long would it have taken if the case had been contested? Until after the next election?

• This has all been a bit Covid-y this week, hasn’t it? Sorry about that. This would be a great time for governments to pass dodgy legislation, for large companies to announce dodgy financials and for tech giants to release  dodgy upgrades. Maybe all this has been happening, but I’ve been more concerned with booking and attending our booster appointments, sweeping up storm-damaged branches from the garden and finding out how the cats are managing to open the bathroom window at night. These things may not be news per se but they’re important to us. In the midst of this second strange seasonal period, we all have our own pre-occupations: and these, recently, have been ours…