Japan’s top medical advisor slams Olympics chief Bach over return to Tokyo August 25, 2021 Japan’s top Covid-19 advisor has blasted International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach for returning to Tokyo to attend the opening ceremony of the Paralympics. Bach’s visit comes as the country continues expanding emergency curbs to contain the pandemic. Shigeru Omi, chairman of a government subcommittee on the coronavirus response, criticised the decision at a [...]
Scottish Covid inquiry set to commence this year August 24, 2021 The Scottish Government has announced it will be launching its own inquiry into the handling of the Covid pandemic amidst pressure from grieving families. Today, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that Scotland intends to hold its own judge-led inquiry into all matters concerning the pandemic, within the devolved competence of the Scottish government. This will include the [...]
Third vaccine looming as JVCI fear two doses are not enough August 19, 2021 The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JVCI) are discussing a potential booster campaign amidst concerns that two doses are not effective enough. In a JVCI meeting this morning, a government scientific adviser claimed there may be people who “really need” a third dose of the Coronavirus vaccine. JVCI member Professor Adam Finn spoke of [...]
Annual Covid-19 boosters may become a reality, says Moderna co-founder August 18, 2021 With governments around the world debating whether to authorise Covid-19 vaccine booster doses, Moderna co-founder Noubar Afeyan envisions a time when the shot could become routine. “Public health officials are going to have to decide if everybody should get a booster shot,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg TV today. “My guess is that [...]
98 per cent of London schools in areas with toxic air quality August 18, 2021 Almost every London school is in an area where air pollution levels exceed World Health Organisation limits, a City Hall analysis suggests. According to the 2016- 2020 report, the average concentration of particulate matter was a third higher at schools in London than in the rest of England. Figures show 98 per cent of schools [...]
Life sciences sector alert to evolving skills challenge August 16, 2021 | City Talk ‘We stand on the cusp of an era of cures, in which new technologies make previously terminal diseases treatable or curable’: so states the UK ‘Life Sciences Vision’, which outlines a 10-year strategy for the sector.The vision, unveiled last month, states that life sciences will be one of the great drivers of growth in the [...]
CMA accuses pharma firms Pfizer and Flynn of charging NHS illegal prices for anti-epilepsy drug August 5, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has accused pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Flynn of breaking competition law and overcharging the NHS for crucial anti-epilepsy drugs, in a new re-investigation following a years-long battle with the companies. Pfizer and Flynn “abused their dominant positions” and charged the NHS “unfairly high prices” for life-saving phenytoin sodium capsules, for which they [...]
Green and pleasant land? The future of cannabis use in the UK July 29, 2021 Smoking as a social activity suffered a heavy blow around 15 years ago. Between 2006 and 2007, the four parts of the United Kingdom brought in new laws prohibiting smoking in public places, with Scotland being the first to take the leap. I bear a sliver of responsibility: I worked for the House of Commons [...]
Dominic Raab says only countries with ‘high trust’ could join US and EU in quarantine exemption July 29, 2021 Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says the introduction of a quarantine exemption for double-jabbed people entering from the US and EU I would only be extended to countries using similar vaccines to the UK. The new exemptions were introduced as part of the government’s “easing out of lockdown” plan, according to Raab. The Foreign Secretary emphasised [...]
No increased blood clot risk after second dose of AstraZeneca July 28, 2021 New data shows AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine carries no additional risk of rare blood clotting disorder after the second dose. A study published in the Lancet medical journal found that the estimated rate of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) in people who had received both doses was 2.3 per million. This figure is comparable to that [...]