Last December, as the first of several worrying Covid-19 variants ripped through the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the unwelcome decision to cancel Christmas plans for millions of Brits. [https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/20/uk/uk-europe-covid-infections-cmd-gbr-intl/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/20/uk/uk-europe-covid-infections-cmd-gbr-intl/index.html)