Our botched national rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines reminds us that often we are not much good at managing things that should be within our control.

In past weeks I have been repeatedly grilled about how to get a coronavirus vaccine. One would think that it is a tightly held government secret.

Although many GP practices are providing the vaccine with limited stock initially received, they are restricting it for their own patients in the first instance, rather than accepting patients on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Hence, many people who were searching furiously to get vaccinated were getting frustrated. One heard rumours of possible ways to score the vaccine, and lots of energy would be directed towards what turned out to be futile pursuits.