London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Emily Sheffield: Time for London’s unvaccinated to pay with their freedoms, not ours

Emily Sheffield: Time for London’s unvaccinated to pay with their freedoms, not ours

Two years into a global pandemic and in this city of nearly nine million inhabitants — which has time and again been at the centre of the battle against Covid — 30 per cent of over-12s remain unvaccinated.

Two years into a global pandemic and in this city of nearly nine million inhabitants — which has time and again been at the centre of the battle against Covid — 30 per cent of over-12s remain unvaccinated.

Across, the UK the proportion is around 10 per cent. Meanwhile, more than 20 NHS trusts in England have declared critical incidents, it was revealed yesterday, as Omicron continues to have an impact on wards being managed by exhausted NHS staff working on the frontline of this war.

This week the Government said it is “absolutely heart-breaking” that up to 90 per cent of people in intensive care with Covid have not had a booster jab and more than 60 per cent have not had any vaccine at all.

As energies stay focused on fighting Covid, waiting times for life-saving operations and procedures grow ever more critical. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, warned yesterday that not only are thousands having to wait for urgent care, trusts are now having to delay planned care again. And Covid or illness are not the only reasons NHS staff are missing work — it is also mental health and stress.

The time for gentle coaxing is over — the unvaccinated of this city need to pay with their freedoms, not ours. They must no longer be pandered to. This is not about the tiny percentage of people who are unable to have the vaccine for medical reasons.

A mix of willful ignorance, obstinacy and selfish stupidity is causing real harm, adding to economic woes and risking death to others. Why should critical care for a cancer patient be delayed because the unvaccinated need urgent attention instead?

The booster programme is estimated to cut the risk of hospitalisation by 88 per cent… and our incredible vaccination programme has ended mass deaths.

For months, we rightly followed a policy of persuasion for those who refused vaccinations. We were mindful of data that showed hesitancy was higher among those on low incomes and in sections of London’s population who kept away from vaccination centres due to a mixture of historical distrust of the medical establishment, diminished trust in authority, and reliance on social media and hearsay for information. They were not mad conspiracists, though they were easy prey for them.

In New York, you cannot sit in a cafe without proof of vaccination. In Italy, they are making it law to be vaccinated if you are over 50. Germany has also undergone a volte-face. France saw huge vaccine take-up once President Macron, left, made access to offices, restaurants and ski lifts conditional on proof of vaccination. And he has promised to frustrate the anti-vaxxers even further.

In Australia, they have cancelled Novak Djokovic’s visa after he arrived to defend his championship title without a valid reason for a vaccine exemption. In Ireland, which I have just returned from, you must show your health passport to enter a restaurant.

The ease with which they operated this is proof it can be done and should silence those in London hospitality who are against them. We have often intervened in the freedoms of those who endanger their own health and those around them: smoking bans, drink driving laws, and sugar reductions.

If we continue to duck vaccine passports in offices, restaurants and other crowded non-essential public venues, we are letting the anti-vaxxers shift responsibility for their choices.

We as a city are reliant on going out, safe travel and the populace happily mixing. The huge numbers of the unvaccinated add more uncertainty and risk. Every time a new variant threatens to overwhelm our hospitals, we enter more mini-lockdowns, wiping millions off London’s economic recovery.

Maintaining that our “freedoms” are threatened by vaccine passports is a bogus argument from the conservative Right that has fuelled the mad obstinacy of the unvaccinated. MPs recently wheeled out the argument that such passports didn’t work in Scotland, ignoring that their population is 3.5 million less than London’s alone.

Boris Johnson has been proven right so far in holding back on further restrictions in the face of Omicron. But he’s prevaricated for too long over wider use of vaccine passports.

With the booster programme stalling, he and his ministers are talking them up again, with those who have not had a booster jab denied entry to large venues and the right to quarantine-free travel.

But they should go further. The doubters, once jabbed, will wonder what they ever worried about. The rest can stay at home.

PM must avoid own goals to ride out rocky start to 2022


My prediction for 2022 is that it is going to be a year of two halves, especially for our embattled Prime Minister. The first half will be the tougher of the two by far, with continued uncertainty from Omicron, rising living costs due to inflation, increased energy bills and new tax rises in April.

The danger moment for Boris Johnson will come if the Tories get punished in the local elections in May, especially if he scores any more own-goals that cut through to a public feeling out of pocket and sick of Tory sleaze and incompetence.

But summer will provide respite, Covid will retreat as we head outdoors, and many predict we will be the fastest-growing economy in the G7. As confidence increases so will inward investment and we will be out enjoying ourselves and spending.

If Boris can ride this out, leading as a serious premier, he should be on safer ground come autumn. But this pandemic has upended every prediction. So buckle up, dig deep, enjoy the little things, as this year will be far from smooth.

Starmer’s secret weapon? His wife, Victoria...


Despite his new bout of Covid, Sir Keir Starmer starts this year much strengthened, both by his position in the polls and a shadow cabinet finally worthy of office. But his dour expression causes me concern.

Too often he shows us only frowning disapproval and hand-wringing empathy. As well as smiling more, even cracking a joke like he means it, he ought to bring forward his secret weapon: his clever, stunning wife, left.

She could be a huge boon in making him approachable. And she works in the NHS. Make this the year we get to know Victoria.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
×