Here’s a stat to ruin your 4pm ‘I could go home/get dressed soon’ cup of tea (or whenever you get round to reading this. Any time is good with me.)
Austria, with two-thirds of its population double vaccinated, has entered a national lockdown. England, with 80 per cent double jabbed, has not.
But zoom in on the capital and that figure falls to 60 per cent. Indeed, there remain up to 2.7 million Londoners aged 16 or older who are yet to receive even a first dose.
Education Secretary and former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said today that he believes Britain could become the first major economy in the world to transition from pandemic to endemic using Covid-19 vaccines.
This would indeed represent progress. First of all, ‘endemicity’ is a fun word to say. (For the Seinfeld aficionados out there).
Second, that is a pretty decent end result of Covid, accelerated by the deployment of vaccines. Thing is, people actually need to go and get jabbed.
Elsewhere in the paper, Southend has bid farewell to Sir David Amess with a horse-drawn procession, as the city mourned the loss of its MP.
In the comment pages, Natasha Mwansa writes that the word ‘woke’ has been weaponised by those who wish to stifle debate – and people need to reclaim it with pride.
Meanwhile, Susie Butter watched an Audience with Adele. Her conclusion? Even celebrity sycophants couldn’t ruin her night.
And finally, dread dressing up? Cringe at small talk? You might have PPSA (pre-party season anxiety). Hannah Betts has a guide to surviving the most socially awkward time of the year.
