Londoners: your city needs you to get vaccinated.
About three million jabs — 1.8 million first doses and 1.2 million second doses must be administered over the next three-and-a-half weeks to bring London in line with the Government’s target to lift lockdown on July 19.
As the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to lead to a rise in Covid-19 cases, we need as many people as possible to get the protection that vaccination confers.
This weekend will see football again come to the fore in this effort. Arsenal, Charlton, Crystal Palace and Watford’s grounds are being used as mass-vaccination centres.
Saracens and Twickenham are carrying the flag for rugby, while a second walk-in centre at Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre is being opened today by Mayor Sadiq Khan and vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi.
This urgency is well-placed. About 73.1 per cent of adult Londoners have had a first dose and 47.2 per cent will have had both doses by the middle of the week.
By comparison, 82.5 per cent of people across the UK have had a first dose and more than 60 per cent both doses. The capital therefore must run in order to catch up with the rest of the country.
The prize on offer is a good one. Not a million dollars or even free chips, as is up for grabs in some US states, but a return to something akin to normality. Busy pubs, packed theatres, even a heaving Central line train sounds appealing.
So our plea to all those who call this city home is simple and unwavering. If you haven’t already, come forward, get vaccinated, and let’s leave lockdown behind.
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