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Best of the Spectator

Spectator Out Loud: Richard Dobbs, Tanya Gold and Rory Sutherland

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4785 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2021

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Richard Dobbs reads his piece on why he's considering giving up his second vaccine for people more in need (00:55); Tanya Gold reports from her Kent road trip in a Ferrari (07:50); and Rory Sutherland on the unexpected joys of lockdown and why we may miss it when it's gone. (12:45)

Transcript

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0:00.0

The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. Absolutely free. Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.

0:26.8

Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. Every week, a few of our favourite writers read out their

0:32.5

articles in the latest issue. This week we're going to be hearing from Richard Dobbs, who writes about why he's

0:38.4

considering canceling his second COVID jab if other places need it more. Tanya Gold writes about her

0:44.6

British road trip in a Ferrari. And finally, Rory Sutherland, on the unexpected pluses of lockdown,

0:51.8

and why we might miss it when it's gone. First up, it's Richard

0:55.5

Dobbs. I'm considering cancelling my second COVID vaccination. I received my first jab in March,

1:02.2

and at the time I happily booked the date for the second one in June, confident that by then

1:06.7

we'd be continuing to see a fall in infections. But last week the story changed. The variant

1:14.2

first identified in India could, according to sage minutes, be 50% more transmissible than the variant

1:20.5

first identified in Kent. Early numbers suggest we could be at the start of an exponential

1:26.1

growth in infections.

1:28.3

The lessons of the past year is that if you wait until you're certain of the data, you're

1:33.3

too late in changing your plans.

1:35.3

Here, therefore, are four areas to consider now.

1:39.3

First, in the race between vaccines of the virus, we are still constrained by supply. So wouldn't it be better if people like me, who have already had COVID,

1:50.0

cancelled our second jabs and waited for the planned autumn booster,

1:54.0

therefore allowing others to have their first shot instead?

1:58.0

Second, while infections were very low, it made sense not to use the AstraZeneca shot for the under 30s.

2:04.6

But now this decision might need revisiting if infections rise.

2:09.4

Third, should we tighten up restrictions for those travelling from amber countries such as France,

2:15.9

where 10% of the infections in Paris are from the more

...

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