Notices are appearing in some shop doors to say that they are re-opening on 12th April.

Lots of us have had the vaccine. The second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic is going down.

Some shops in Abingdon town centre have a pile of junk mail waiting for them on the doorstep.

One hairdresser still has the Christmas Tree on display.

Bury Street has had a Spring Clean before next week’s re-opening.

Catering premises that have an outdoor area are also re-opening from 12th April. They expect to re-open indoors in May.

Oxfam is due to re-open, a couple of days later, on 14th April.

Shop safely! Let us hope that there won’t be a third wave.

On Tuesday the Mayor, Town Clerk and Town Crier took a minute at 12 noon to remember those whose lives have been affected during the pandemic. Many others in Abingdon stopped at school, work, home, or wherever they were to mark the minute.

In the evening at 8 pm, on Tuesday, some people lit a candle at their window or front door.

The Abingdon Herald’s headline is ‘Long Year, but Light at end of tunnel’.

Somebody was meditating on a seat in the Abbey Meadows. That is one way to escape lockdown.

The new town council notice boards are no longer blank. A map of Abingdon town centre has been placed below two sheets about services that are closed at the moment, and the slogan – Stay Home – Protect the NHS – Save Lives.

Abingdon Museum is closed and have a project recording people’s stories of lockdown.

People in their 70s are now getting the virus vaccine. The government announced today that over ten million people in the UK have had one of the vaccines. Some people from Abingdon are going to the mass vaccination centre at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford. I saw others queuing at the charter day center today for their jab.

Another news report said that a single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine could cut transmission by 67%. Teachers, the police, and shop workers, come into contact with lots of people as part of their job, but I don’t think they get the vaccine yet. The priority is on safeguarding the most vulnerable.

People in the UK (including Abingdon on Thames) returned to doorsteps at 6pm to applaud a 100-year-old veteran who had raised almost £33m for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden. He died yesterday with Covid-19.

Residents of West St Helen Street were led by John, whose drum helped to bring out residents who had not heard of the proposed doorstep applause.

John said that he had intended to do one on Thursday at 8pm but then the Prime Minister announced the national applause for Wednesday at 6pm.