The new year began with cheer and optimism filling the air. The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic which had begun in earnest back in March of last year when the first cases were discovered in Saudi Arabia, seemed to have reached the final lap of its morbid tenure as the ministry of health rolled out the vaccines in convenient locations across the kingdom, making them free of charge to citizens and residents alike. The only expense involved would be the gas your car would use to get there. At the centre I had gone to, the organisation was impeccable, with courteous Saudi staff manning all stations from the entry point to the registration booths; and from the inoculation room to the recovery area where fresh juice and water were provided to those who needed it. This was indeed a well planned and executed operation of a massive scale that would involve the full temerity of the health ministry to process the estimated 35 million citizens and residents of the land. When you consider that Saudi Arabia is the largest and most populated country in the GCC and the task is to get the vaccine to all its residents, the logistics are staggering!