Matt Hancock takes over as head of government’s vaccine taskforce March 1, 2021 Matt Hancock will take over top-level responsibility of the government’s vaccine taskforce, the health department has announced, as ministers prepare to ramp up the nation’s largest ever immunisation programme. The health secretary will take charge of cabinet-level ministerial responsibility for the taskforce from business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. The move is to allow “for end-to-end oversight [...]
Matt Hancock: International travel could return sooner if vaccines work against new Covid variants February 23, 2021 The health secretary has left the door open for international travel to return sooner than planned this summer if available vaccines work against emerging Covid variants. Unveiling his roadmap for exiting lockdown yesterday, the Prime Minister said international travel will only resume from 17 May at the earliest. Boris Johnson said the government first needed [...]
Pfizer vaccine cuts Covid transmission by up to 85 per cent February 22, 2021 “Vaccines are working,” the health secretary has announced, after new data showed the Pfizer vaccine cuts Covid transmission by up to 85 per cent and reduces the risk of death and hospitalisation by three-quarters. In a major boost for the Prime Minister’s plans to lift lockdown restrictions, early data from Public Health England’s (PHE) first [...]
Hancock refuses to apologise over High Court ruling on PPE deals February 21, 2021 Matt Hancock has refused to apologise after the High Court ruled he broke the law by failing to publish details of billions of pounds-worth of coronavirus contracts within the required 30-day period. Mr Justice Chamberlain’s ruling followed a legal challenge brought by three opposition MPs and the Good Law Project over contracts to supply personal [...]
Matt Hancock: UK could live with Covid ‘like flu’ by end of year February 13, 2021 Vaccines and treatments mean Covid-19 could become a disease we live with “like we do with flu” by the end of the year, Matt Hancock has said. The health secretary said new drugs designed to tackle the virus could arrive in 2021, helping to make Covid a “treatable” disease. In an interview with the Daily [...]
Matt Hancock unveils ‘blistering’ NHS reforms as government prepares to seize control February 11, 2021 Matt Hancock has unveiled plans to reform the NHS, insisting that the pandemic is the “right time” for the government to shake up the health service at “blistering pace”. In its biggest set of reforms for a decade, ministers are set to be handed “general power to direct NHS England on its functions”, amid widespread [...]
Lambeth to receive surge testing amid concerns over South African Covid mutation February 9, 2021 Extra coronavirus testing will be carried out in Lambeth following confirmed cases of the South African Covid variant in the south London neighbourhood. Surge testing and genomic sequencing will be carried out in the SE27 0, SE27 9 and SW16 2 postcodes in Lambeth. People living within the targeted areas are strongly encouraged to take [...]
Ministers to seize control of the NHS in sweeping reforms February 6, 2021 Ministers will take direct control of the NHS amid ongoing frustration at its performance during the pandemic, marking the biggest reform for the health service for a decade. The plans are understood to have begun before the 2019 election, but have been accelerated amid mounting frustration from Number 10 over the state of the health [...]
NHS chief earmarks summer for return to normality January 26, 2021 NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has signalled that the UK could begin to see a return to normality by the summer if plans to ramp up the nation’s vaccination programme go to plan. Teachers and police could be fast-tracked for the Covid vaccine as early as mid-February, the NHS boss said. Ministers have set [...]
Moderna to trial new Covid vaccine for South African mutation January 25, 2021 Moderna is set to trial its new Covid-19 vaccine specially designed to tackle a new coronavirus strain that first emerged in South Africa, the company announced today. The US pharmaceutical firm said laboratory tests showed its current vaccine appears to work against the UK Covid variant first identified in Kent. However, it warned that the [...]