‘No reason to believe’ South African variant will become dominant in UK, says Jonathan Van-Tam February 8, 2021 England’s deputy chief medical officer has allayed fears over the spread of a new South African variant of coronavirus, insisting there is “no reason to believe” the mutant strain will become dominant in the UK. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Jonathan Van-Tam said the South African variant has now become the dominant strain [...]
No jab, no job policies ‘discriminatory’, says Downing Street February 8, 2021 Requiring employees to get vaccinated as part of so-called “no jab, no job” policies is “discriminatory”, Downing Street has said, despite mandatory vaccinations receiving support from several government ministers. “Taking a vaccine is not mandatory and it would be discriminatory to force somebody to take one,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson told journalists this afternoon. [...]
Millions will need third Covid vaccine dose in the autumn February 8, 2021 Millions of people will likely need a third vaccine dose in the autumn, amid growing concerns that the Astrazeneca jab may not be effective against the new South African Covid variant. It is understood that NHS chiefs are planning for the extra doses to be given alongside annual winter flu jabs, after a new study [...]
Slow vaccine rollouts cause eurozone investor morale to slip February 8, 2021 Investor morale in the eurozone unexpectedly dropped in February as lockdowns left their mark on the economy, a survey showed on Monday. Attempts to suppress Covid-19 left the eurozone trailing behind other regions in the world, as countries such as the USA showed a strong recovery. Sentix, who surveyed more than 1,250 investors, said that [...]
German finance minister lashes out at EU vaccine drought February 6, 2021 Germany’s finance minister has renewed tensions within the bloc following a high-profile tussle last week over EU vaccine shortages. Olaf Scholz told the BBC this afternoon he was “angry about some of the decisions that were taken last year”, among suggestions that the EU failed to order sufficient vaccine supplies for its member states. So [...]
Astrazeneca vaccine works against Kent Covid variant February 5, 2021 The Astrazeneca vaccine currently being deployed in the UK’s largest ever immunisation programme works against the coronavirus variant first identified in Kent, researchers have found. Scientists from Oxford University, working in collaboration with the British-Swedish firm, said the jab has a similar efficacy against the new Covid variant compared to the original coronavirus strain it was [...]
Government orders 50m doses of CureVac vaccine for new Covid mutations February 5, 2021 The government has signed a deal with German biotech firm CureVac for 50m doses of a new vaccine being developed to tackle emerging Covid mutations. The deal will see CureVac create “new varieties of vaccines based on messenger RNA technology to be developed quickly against new strains of Covid-19 if they are needed”, the Department [...]
Covid-19 variants: could mutations prolong the pandemic? February 5, 2021 The end is in sight. Isn’t it? The cautious optimism of vaccination programmes made the final curtain of the Covid-19 pandemic visible for the first time. Concern is growing, however, after Public Health England announced it is investigating cases with “worrying” new genetic changes found in regions of the UK. Cases in Liverpool and Bristol [...]
UK government will ‘help facilitate’ vaccine passports, says minister February 5, 2021 The UK government will “help facilitate” vaccine passports with other countries as part of plans for Europe to return to normality, the Foreign Office minister has said. The Times reported this morning that British officials have started working on an official certification system after Greece said it would waive quarantine rules for tourists able to [...]
UK could see ‘significant return to normality’ and economic rebound by summer February 4, 2021 The UK could see a “significant return to normality” by the summer, one of the government’s top scientific advisers has said, as the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme continues to beat targets. Andrew Hayward, director of UCL’s Institute for Epidemiology and member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said this morning that [...]