Are vaccines going to be our get-out-of-jail card from the pandemic? This is the question on everyone’s minds right now.

The answer is a cautious ‘yes’. With the approval of three vaccines – two of which are being distributed in large volumes already – we can for the first time see a way to defeat this horrible virus.

My job as chair of the Commons Health Select Committee is to hold the government to account, and that has sometimes involved constructive criticism.

But it is also important to give credit where it is due, and on vaccines we have seen a genuine British triumph.

It is a huge achievement that British scientists were the first in the world to authorise the safe use of not one but two of the three vaccines in use – and even more significant that one of them was developed here.

The government – and Matt Hancock in particular – should get great credit for having the foresight to buy sufficient quantities of all three vaccines in advance, making us the most successful country of our size in the world at getting the vaccine rolled out.

Because the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine is low cost and does not need to be kept at ultra-low temperatures, it may end up being the one most used across the world, including in countries like South Africa that are suffering badly from the virus.

I feel great British pride that unlike other vaccine companies, Astra Zeneca has stated explicitly that because it is a global emergency, they do not want to make any profit from it: what a transformation from the way some drugs companies deliberately kept the prices of HIV anti-retroviral drugs too high for developing country use in the 1980s.

AZ is run, incidentally, by a Frenchman, Pascal Soiriot, whom I came to admire greatly when I was health secretary. He and his company have truly risen to the seriousness of the situation we now face and will rightly receive huge plaudits for whatever they do not receive in profits.

As a result of these changes, jabs of the precious vaccine are happening apace for South West Surrey residents from centres in Farnham, Guildford and Haslemere.

Of course, doing this quickly has meant a few bumps in the road but massive credit should go to our local GPs, nurses and the many local volunteers supporting them.

One such bump has been over the site used in Haslemere so this week I have been in touch with Dr Claire Fuller, Surrey NHS boss, and Haslemere GP Dr Phil Ridsdill Smith.

St Christopher’s Church was being used (with Haslemere Health Centre as an overflow) but because it can do only 200 people a day, all Haslemere appointments have now been moved to G-Live in Guildford.

That is a difficult but necessary decision because the Pfizer jab comes in batches of 975 which have to be given out in three days – and this can’t be done efficiently with the capacity of St Christopher’s.

By asking people to travel more, we will ensure more Haslemere residents get vaccinated quickly – but the plan is to go back to using local sites as soon as good supplies arrive of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine, which can be stored at normal fridge temperatures.

Overall, though, our optimism should be cautious.

By the middle of February, nearly 20 per cent of the population will have had a jab. But it takes two weeks for the immunity to kick in and that first group will need their second jabs before we can make real inroads with other key groups, such as teachers.

We also have a horrible new strain to contend with which is putting the NHS under more pressure than ever in its history.

So as we wait for our jab, it has never been more important to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out – and maintain proper social distancing when you do.