The Standard

Health editor Ross Lydall says a huge effort’s underway this weekend to get more Londoners vaccinated, especially younger adults.

About 1.8m first doses and 1.2m second doses have to be administered over the next three-and-a-half weeks to bring London in line with the Government’s targets to lift lockdown on July 19.

Boris Johnson wants all people over 18 to have been offered a first jab and for two-thirds of adults to have been “double jabbed” to maximise safety.

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Compulsory mask-wearing in England will be ditched within weeks but the Evening Standard’s deputy political editor, Nicholas Cecil, says you may want to hold onto one for a while yet.

Environment Secretary George Eustice says the Government’s aiming to remove the legal requirement to wear a face-covering in many indoor public places on July 19.

But he’s conceding that the Tube may be one area where people may need to continue wearing one, saying “a judgement will be made at the time”.

Nicholas tells us the London mayor’s advocating a cautious approach. 

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We’re joined by the CEO of PinkNews, Benjamin Cohen, to talk about Alan Turing appearing on the Bank of England’s new £50 note.

The scientist and wartime code-cracker is the first LGBT+ person to ever be given the honour, and he’s also being remembered at GCHQ with a giant artwork. It’s a huge turnaround for the reputation of a man who despite being a hero of the Second World War was prosecuted in the 1950s for his sexuality and died at the age of 41 with cyanide poisoning.

But while supporting the symbolism of the move, Benjamin asks how powerful it can be with so few people using cash – and even fewer having £50 notes?

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Travel consultant Paul Charles joins the podcast to discuss reports that the government’s considering giving double-vaccinated Britons the go-ahead for summer holidays in Mediterranean resorts without having to quarantine on their return.

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, says he wants to relax the restrictions on foreign travel, with millions of people still eager to head abroad to “amber” list countries.

But Paul says the travel industry is losing trust in Downing Street after a series of delays and decisions affecting people taking foreign trips.

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Our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil tells us how health secretary Matt Hancock has raised the hopes of people who have had two doses of a Covid vaccine. He says wants to see a new system where the double-jabbed won't have to self-isolate if they've come into contact with a coronavirus carrier. 

It comes amid suggestions that the government might bring so-called 'Freedom Day' forward, having postponed it until July 19th. It could help many struggling businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector, but Nicholas says it's unlikely to happen. 

Meanwhile, a further 886 Covid cases were announced for the capital on Sunday, down on figures of more than 1,000 in recent days. Nine boroughs saw their seven-day Covid rate go above 100 new infections per 100,000 in the week to June 15.

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Deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil explains why Uefa is threatening to take the Euro 2020 out of the UK.

The British government’s in talks with football’s governing body which wants 2,500 delegates to be allowed to fly into the country for the showcase without having to quarantine.

Nicholas says a move like that would likely annoy thousands of Brits who haven’t been able to go abroad for a holiday this year, and alarm some health experts who fear a coronavirus spike.

We also talk about London’s vaccine ‘Super Saturday’ with thousands of young adults in the city being urged to get vaccinated.

It follows figures showing the capital lags behind the rest in the country for people getting the jab. 

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There’s a lot of talk about how vaccines are going to end this global pandemic that we’re embroiled in – but is that true?

In today’s episode Dr. David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy on Covid-19, spoke to Rosalind Russel who is leading the Evening Standard’s Vaccine for the World project.

The project is designed to highlight the challenges and solutions for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. David Nabarro tells us that the bug has a game plan, and it’s going to be around years to come.

He also believes vaccines are just one part of an arsenal that has to be deployed, and the focus should really be on extinguishing outbreaks where they occur.

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The mayor of London took a walk through the city centre with the Evening Standard’s health editor Ross Lydall and discussed the urgency behind getting more people in the capital vaccinated.

A total of 3.62 million more doses are needed in London by the new “lockdown release” day of July 19 under Boris Johnson’s aim of offering the vaccine to all people over 18 while ensuring two-thirds are “double jabbed”.

A total of 51,892 first and second doses were given in London on Monday – but this needs to double to at least 100,000 a day.

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The Evening Standard’s Jonathan Prynn joins us to discuss the economic impact of pushing back ‘Freedom day’ by four weeks.

He’s been speaking to hoteliers, restauranteurs and pub landlords who fear the delay will be the final nail in the coffin for businesses that have barely survived the pandemic.

They’re calling for more help from the government, but at the moment it doesn’t look like any new or extended support is on the horizon.

Meanwhile, with the sun shining and the Euro 2020 competition underway some bar operators can only look on as they see thousands of pounds worth of trade pass them by. 

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Janine Chamberlin, LinkedIn’s UK country manager, tells us how users of the website have changed their behaviour and attitudes over the course of Britain’s lockdown.

In a fascinating interview, she tells us which sectors were hardest hit by the restrictions and what they did to recover.

She also reveals how the “stigma of unemployment” has been banished as thousands of people found themselves out of a job and looking for help to get a new one.

And she reveals that words such as “remote work” are appearing more and more in job adverts, as the daily commute appears to be on the way out.

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