Astrazeneca confirms it will roll out new vaccine for Covid mutations in autumn February 11, 2021 Astrazeneca is on course to launch a new vaccine that is effective against emerging Covid variants by the autumn, the company has said. The Anglo-Swedish firm said clinical trials for the “next generation” of Covid vaccine would commence in the spring, with mass production earmarked for six to nine months’ time. Speaking as he unveiled [...]
Coronavirus: Kent variant will ‘sweep the world’ February 11, 2021 The more virulent variant of coronavirus first identified in Kent will become the world’s dominant strain of the virus, according to the the director of the UK’s genetic surveillance programme. The Kent variant is now the most common form of the virus in the UK, after it was first detected in September. It has been [...]
Why have almost half EU countries restricted use of the Astrazeneca vaccine? February 10, 2021 The World Health Organization (WHO) this afternoon recommended the rollout of Astrazeneca’s Covid vaccine for use in all age groups, after a slew of European countries slapped limitations on the jab’s distribution. WHO officials said a “preponderance of evidence weighed in favour of not constraining the vaccine for certain age groups”, and refused to recommend [...]
Are vaccine passports inevitable to keep the global travel industry afloat? February 10, 2021 Transport secretary Grant Shapps today gave the clearest indication yet that people could soon be required to prove they had been vaccinated in order to travel abroad. Speaking to the BBC, he confirmed talks had been held with his counterparts in the US and Singapore over creation of an international vaccine certification system. Such a [...]
Breaking: World Health Organization recommends Astrazeneca vaccine for all age groups February 10, 2021 The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of the Astrazeneca/Oxford University vaccine for use by all countries around the world, with a 8 to 12 week interval between doses. In a major snub to European countries that have applied age limits to the vaccine, WHO said there was enough evidence to recommend vaccines [...]
Ministers in talks with US and Singapore over international vaccine certificate February 10, 2021 Ministers are in discussions with other countries over the creation of an international vaccine certification system that would allow a partial resumption of travel, the transport secretary has said. Grant Shapps told the BBC he has spoken to his counterparts in the US and Singapore about the creation of an internationally recognisable system of proving [...]
Etihad Airways will only fly with fully vaccinated crew February 10, 2021 Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways will only operate flights with vaccinated pilots and cabin crew, the company said on Wednesday. The airline has made a coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical group Sinopharm available to all employees, as well as the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. It is not yet clear how many cabin crew and pilots have [...]
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 [...]
Wuhan lab leak ‘extremely unlikely’ source of Covid pandemic, says WHO February 9, 2021 It is “extremely unlikely” that Covid-19 spread to the human population through a laboratory leak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. Investigators on the ground in Wuhan believe the most likely hypothesis for the start of the pandemic was the virus spreading to humans via an “intermediary host species”. Experts studying the likely cause [...]
UK Government urges all over-70s to contact NHS for Covid vaccine February 8, 2021 The NHS has changed its messaging to urge all over-70s to book themselves in for a Covid vaccine, the health secretary has announced