Just three days ago, Matt Hancock was basking in the glory of Oxford University's astonishing achievement.
As its world-beating vaccine won approval from regulators, the Health Secretary toured the TV and radio studios, predicting that Britain's coronavirus crisis would finally be over by Easter.
After all, ministers had ordered 100million doses of the 'game-changer' AstraZeneca vaccine, much more user-friendly than the Pfizer version already given to one million Britons.
And Alok Sharma, the Business Secretary, assured us way back in May that 30million doses would be on the shelves by September, ready for roll-out as soon as it had that crucial clearance.