Vaccines 1) Zahawi pledges that the UK is “ready to help” the EU “Britain stands ready to help the EU with its vaccination crisis, the vaccines minister said after Brussels abandoned its threat to block supplies at the border. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Nadhim Zahawi said the focus is now on “collaboration” […]
Johnson ‘spurns flag waving’ as UK sets global pace with vaccines… “Boris Johnson was on Friday accused of wanting to start “a vaccine war” by a senior EU official as Brussels imposed export controls on jabs from the bloc. But after years of Brexit tension with Brussels, the British prime minister has spent the week […]
Novavax: Johnson hails new British-made Covid vaccine after ‘spectacular’ trials “Boris Johnson was celebrating last night the “spectacular” trial results of a British-made Covid-19 vaccine. Novavax announced that a UK study had suggested it was almost 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 and was effective against the new Kent variant. The company said that it was […]
Johnson ‘confident’ that EU efforts to ‘disrupt vaccine supplies’ will fail “Britain has more than enough coronavirus vaccines for this year and could eventually donate them to other countries, senior industry sources told The Times last night. They said that Britain had secured the doses needed to meet its targets and expected its deals with […]
Coronavirus 1) Virus deaths pass 100,000 “The UK has become the first European country to officially record more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths, a figure described by health leaders as a tragedy. Britain is the fifth nation in the world to reach six figures, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico. It now has a […]
EU ‘threatens to block exports of Pfizer Covid vaccine’ “Britain’s Covid vaccine supply is in jeopardy after the EU threatened to block exports of the Belgian-made Pfizer jabs amid a row with UK-based AstraZeneca. Brussels decided to impose tighter controls on exports after reacting with fury to the news that AstraZeneca will deliver 50 million fewer […]
Coronavirus 1) Tory MPs “in revolt on school closures” “Schoolchildren have become the pandemic’s “forgotten victims”, Tory MPs have warned Boris Johnson, amid a growing backlash against plans that could keep classrooms closed until Easter. A dozen Conservative MPs, including the former Cabinet minister Esther McVey and Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee […]
Johnson beats his EU rivals to bag Biden phone call “Boris Johnson has made a decisive break with Donald Trump, telling his successor Joe Biden that his election was “a moment of hope in a dark time” for the world. The prime minister made the comments in a telephone call with the new president last […]
Hancock ‘rebuked’ for suggesting coronavirus vaccine won’t combat new strain… “The government’s chief scientific adviser criticised the health secretary yesterday for suggesting that vaccines would be 50 per cent less effective against the South African variant of coronavirus. Sir Patrick Vallance insisted that “you just can’t” take laboratory studies as a sign of what would […]
Coronavirus 1) £500 payments proposed for those who self-isolate “Everyone in England who tests positive for coronavirus could be given £500 to ensure they self-isolate under plans to stop hardship spreading the virus. Ministers are trying to solve a problem that scientific advisers have long said is an obstacle to controlling the virus. Paying all […]
US 1) Biden signs executive orders reversing Trump’s policies “Joe Biden on Wednesday began dismantling the legacy of his predecessor faster than any other incoming president in the modern era. He signed 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations on his first evening in the Oval Office, far more than any other recent president. They were […]
Coronavirus 1) Johnson ‘begins top secret planning to ease UK lockdown at Easter’ “Boris Johnson has begun top secret planning for millions to meet loved ones this Easter – but cracked the whip amid lagging vaccine numbers. The Sun has learnt Cabinet Office civil servants have begun building a detailed “unlocking framework” to gradually ease Covid […]
Ministers urged to warn people that vaccination is not a licence to ignore lockdown restrictions “Ministers have been warned that millions of people are likely to begin ignoring Covid restrictions once they have been vaccinated. Government scientists are concerned that those who receive jabs are likely to relax their attitude towards social distancing and lockdown rules, […]
Coronavirus 1) Full speed ahead with vaccination of over-70s “More than 5.5 million people who are over 70 or clinically extremely vulnerable will begin receiving letters today for coronavirus jab appointments in a “significant milestone” for the government’s vaccination programme. The number of people who have already been vaccinated, including the over-80s, care home residents […]
Health service may hit peak capacity tomorrow… “Hospitals have been ordered to open hundreds of extra intensive care unit (ICU) beds and hit “maximum surge capacity” by 8am tomorrow amid fears that care for the sickest coronavirus patients may have to be rationed. With critical care units in the capital filled with seriously ill patients, […]