Category Archives: COVID-19

Twitter Is Obsessed With Prince William’s Vaccination Gun Show

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It looks like Prince William’s Covid-19 vaccine came with some mighty big guns.

The Duke of Cambridge got his shot from NHS staff at the Science Museum in London on Tuesday, and he and wife Kate Middleton have since posted a photo of the vaccination on their various social media accounts.

But while the photo was meant to promote the value of getting the Covid-19 shot, many people were focused on “guns” – specifically the one located where the duke’s right arm is supposed to be.

The pic got people pumped (in a manner of speaking).

One woman was so impressed by William’s muscles that she made a humble request to his father, Prince Charles: “He needs another jab in the other arm.”

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Jeremy Corbyn ‘Should Be Honest’ About Covid Jab, Starmer Aide Says

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Jeremy Corbyn should be “honest” about whether he has had his coronavirus vaccination or not, an aide to Keir Starmer has said.

Sharon Hodgson told HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast the ex-Labour leader should not have any privacy concerns around telling people he has had the jab.

Corbyn is 71 years old, so has been eligible for a vaccine since January.

But his office has failed to respond to requests from HuffPost UK asking if he had had the vaccine, although his parliamentary office told the Guido Fawkes website this week that Corbyn “doesn’t normally comment on personal health matters”.

Boris Johnson in March invited photographers to London’s St Thomas’ hospital when he received his first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Starmer was also photographed getting the jab at the Francis Crick Institute in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency in March.

Both used the opportunities to encourage others to get vaccinated.

WPA Pool via Getty Images

Boris Johnson receives the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered by nurse and clinical pod lead, Lily Harrington at St.Thomas’ Hospital on March 19

Stefan Rousseau – PA Images via Getty Images

Keir Starmer receives his first dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine from midwife, Emily Malden at the Francis Crick Institute in his Holborn and St Pancras seat, in March

Hodgson, a Labour MP who is Starmer’s new parliamentary private secretary, said Corbyn should follow other MPs in being open about whether he has had the jab as she was asked whether it could help boost take-up.

She told Commons People: “It’s not a privacy thing.

“I can’t imagine why anybody would want to say that’s a private matter between me and my jab.

“It’s not, it’s either you’ve had the jab or you haven’t.

“So yeah, if you’ve had the jab you should say and if he hasn’t then he needs to sort of be honest I suppose about that.”

It comes after Downing Street urged people who are refusing to get vaccinated to “think of others” and get the jab to help protect over-50s and vulnerable patients with immunity problems, amid localised spikes in the India Covid variant.

The prime minister has warned that the variant could delay England’s final exit from lockdown restrictions on June 21, prompting criticism from Tory MPs like Conor Burns, who said that it would not be right to keep the country in partial lockdown simply because vaccine hesitant people were refusing the jab.

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People 35 And Over To Be Offered Covid Jab, Matt Hancock Says

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Ian Forsyth via Getty Images

Matt Hancock MP, secretary of state for health

People aged 35 and over will be invited for a Covid jab this week, Matt Hancock has said. 

Speaking on Sunday, the health secretary also said new evidence had shown a “high degree of confidence” jabs work against the more transmissible Indian variant, which has said was now “relatively widespread, but in small numbers”. 

He also said it was “appropriate” to push on with the major easing of lockdown in England on Monday, despite warnings from scientists and medics.

Warning the India variant could “spread like wildfire among the unvaccinated groups”, he ruled out making jabs mandatory, adding it could disrupt a successful vaccines programme that had been “positive” and “cheerful”: “We don’t think that is the right approach.”

Hancock was also forced to defend the government against criticism it acted too late in imposing heightened border restrictions for travel from India.

He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Throughout the pandemic I’ve had these ‘Captain Hindsight’ questions, and what I am telling you is how we took decisions at the time based on the evidence we had at the time.”

Hancock said there are now more than 1,300 cases of the variant in total and it was becoming taking hold in areas including Bolton and Blackburn in the North West.

He adde it was “quite likely” the Indian variant of Covid-19 to become the dominant variant in the UK.

“I think it’s quite likely this will become the dominant variant. We don’t know exactly how much more transmissible it is but I think it is likely it will become the dominant variant here,” he said. 

“What that reinforces is the importance of people coming forward for testing and being careful because this isn’t over yet.” 

“But the good news is because we have increasing confidence that the vaccine works against the variant, the strategy is on track – it’s just the virus has just gained a bit of pace and we’ve therefore all got to be that bit much more careful and cautious.”

He was unable to rule out regional lockdowns and said the government would use surge vaccinations to tackle a localised rise in cases. 

Hancock said five people who have had a single jab have been hospitalised with the Indian variant in Bolton, and one who had received both.

He told Marr: “We think that there are five people who have ended up in hospital having had one jab.”

Asked about people who have received two jabs, he said: “We think there’s one person, but that person was frail.

“A small number have had one jab and then there’s one case where they’ve had two jabs and they’ve ended up in hospital and they were frail.”

Asked if anyone had died with the Indian variant after receiving two jabs,  Hancock said: “Not that we’re aware of.”

Offering good news to plans to ease restrictions without unleashing a fresh wave of infections and deaths, Hancock said there is “new very early data” from Oxford University giving confidence that existing vaccines work against the variant.

“That means that we can stay on course with our strategy of using the vaccine to deal with the pandemic and opening up carefully and cautiously but we do need to be really very vigilant to the spread of the disease,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

“We have a high degree of confidence that the vaccine will overcome.”

Hancock said the government will decide on June 14 whether all legal restrictions can be ended in the final step of the road map out of lockdown on June 21.

He did not rule out the possibility that Monday’s easing may have to be reversed if the variant pushed up case numbers, but said the hope is the “cautious and irreversible approach” can continue.

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How To Get A ‘Vaccine Passport’ For International Travel

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On Friday, the government released its eagerly-anticipated list of destinations people in England can visit from May 17 without self-isolating on their return.

The announcement was met with disappointment from the travel industry and sun worshippers, with Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel the only popular summer short-haul destinations on the “green list” for travel. Some of the destinations named – notably Australia, New Zealand and Singapore – aren’t letting tourists in.

But for those who are desperate to get away to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension Island or Tristan da Cunha – “I’m sure the Falklands is lovely,” transport secretary Grant Shapps said – a form of Covid-free certification is likely to be needed.

Vaccine passports?

On Friday, the Department for Transport also announced that from May 17, people who have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine will be able to demonstrate their status on the NHS app.

The app is connected to GP services and linked to personal health data. It can be used for repeat prescriptions, to message doctors and book appointments. It is separate from the NHS Covid-19 app, which is used for contact-tracing.

Those without access to the app can, from May 17, request a letter from the NHS that proves their vaccination status by calling 119.

The government says it is working with the devolved administrations to ensure this facility is available to everyone across the UK.

Will other countries accept it?

Countries around the world are looking at a host of options that will serve as proof of Covid-19 vaccinations to allow travel, though airports, border agencies and airlines are worried there will be no clear global standard that will be accepted at all borders.

Vaccine passports could range from a digital certificate with a scannable QR code in the European Union to a humble piece of paper in some other countries.

Besides concerns over issuance, forgery and the repeated failure of government-backed technology projects, it is still unclear how such documents would be received by notoriously zealous border guards across the world.

What does the UK government say?

The DfTs’s announcement makes clear certification will be useful to enter some countries on the “green list”.

For example, foreign nationals are not be permitted to enter Israel – but it has announced that borders will re-open from May 23 to tourists with vaccine certificates.

Will the NHS app be ready?

Earlier this week, Downing Street confirmed the app may not be ready for when curbs on international travel are lifted.

Number 10 said government was working on the tech – which can prove whether someone has “vaccine passport” status – “at pace”, but admitted it may not be ready in time for May 17.

What are other countries doing?

Airlines and airports have said any vaccine passport will need to be digital, to avoid delays during customs clearance or the boarding of flights caused by checks of paperwork.

The global airline industry body IATA is launching a digital travel pass for Covid-19 test results and vaccine certificates, while the European Union is launching a bloc-wide system.

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No.10 Launches Leak Inquiry Into Boris Johnson’s Texts With James Dyson

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Downing Street has announced an internal inquiry into the leak of private text messages between Boris Johnson and billionaire James Dyson over the tax status of his employees.

The prime minister promised the businessman he would “fix” the issue after personal lobbying from Dyson via texts.

Dyson was seeking assurances before he agreed to build ventilators at the height of the coronavirus crisis. In the end, Dyson never supplied any ventilators to the NHS.

Labour has demanded an urgent investigation be conducted by parliament’s liaison committee, which is made of up senior MPs.

Speaking during PMQs on Wednesday, Labour leader Keir Starmer suggested it was “one rule for those that have got the prime minister’s phone number, another for everybody else”.

The text messages were obtained by the BBC. Asked if there would be a leak inquiry, the prime minister’s spokesperson said on Thursday: “I can confirm that, yes, we have instructed the Cabinet Office to look into this.”

Downing Street also said it will publish correspondence between Johnson and Dyson “shortly”.

“The prime minister said in the House he’s happy to share all the details with the House, as he shared them with his officials,” the spokesperson said.

“That’s what we’re working on, we’re pulling together that information.”

No.10 also did not deny reports, including in The Times, that cabinet secretary Simon Case advised Johnson to change his phone number because of concerns over the ease with which lobbyists and others from the business world were able to contact him.

The spokesperson said: “We don’t get into details of the advice provided between a cabinet secretary and a prime minister ,and so I’m not going to do that in this instance.”

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Boris Johnson Announces Plan To Find Covid-19 Tablets You Can Take At Home

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Boris Johnson has announced a new taskforce designed to identify tablets people can take at home to help them recover from Covid-19.

The prime minister said on Tuesday it would be modelled on the “success of our vaccination programme”.

Johnson said medicines could be available as early as the autumn, designed to stop the infection spreading and speed up recovery time.

“Our new antivirals taskforce will seek to develop innovative treatments you can take at home to stop Covid-19 in its tracks,” he said.

“These could provide another vital defence against any future increase in infections and save more lives.”

Antiviral drugs are a type of medication used specifically for treating viral infections, and act by killing or preventing the growth of viruses.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the taskforce’s aim was to have at least two effective treatments this year, a tablet or a capsule, which people can take following a positive test or exposure to someone with the virus.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said medicines were a “vital weapon” in combating the disease.

“The UK is leading the world in finding and rolling out effective treatments for Covid-19, having identified dexamethasone, which has saved over a million lives worldwide, and tocilizumab,” he said.

“I am committed to boosting the UK’s position as a life science superpower and this new taskforce will help us beat Covid-19 and build back better.”

Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said tablets would be a “key tool”.

“They could help protect those not protected by or ineligible for vaccines. They could also be another layer of defence in the face of new variants of concern,” he said.

“The taskforce will help ensure the most promising antivirals are available for deployment as quickly as possible.”

A chair of the new taskforce has yet to be identified, but a recruitment process will start shortly, DHSC said.

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Black Lives Matter May Have Reduced Spread Of Covid, Says Sage

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JUSTIN TALLIS via AFP via Getty Images

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement may have helped reduce the spread of Covid, scientists advising the government have said.

Experts on the ethnicity subgroup of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said the anti-racist movement “fostered greater empowerment within the Black African and Black Caribbean community and enabled these groups to express their frustrations of many years”.

“This new empowerment may have created a sense of optimism and facilitated open dialogue which increased knowledge and contributed to greater use of cultural, religious and collaborative approaches to reducing risk and transmission of Covid-19 in Black communities in the UK,” the scientists said.

“Strategies include sharing videos of elders having the vaccine and hosting a Covid-19 vaccine event to address misinformation stemming from historic issues of unethical scientific research and religious beliefs.”

Ethnic minorities have been disproportionately impacted by Covid, suffering higher death rates than the white population. 

In the paper prepared on March 26 and made public on Friday, the scientists warned Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups “have not reported similar feelings of empowerment”.

“Establishing and/or rebuilding trust may take longer, particularly for Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups in the absence of a national movement such as BLM,” it states.

The experts also said the failures in public health messaging during the first wave of Covid due to “inaccessible language, modes of delivery and mistrust towards formal organisations” meant Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups “feel more wary or sceptical” of current government communication.

The BLM movement, which began in the US in 2013, had a global resurgence in 2020 following the killing George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Senior UK government ministers have criticised the BLM movement in the UK, including foreign secretary Dominic Raab who revealed he incorrectly thought the gesture of taking a knee was inspired by Game of Thrones.

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UK’s Vaccine Rollout ‘On Track’ Despite Sharp Slowdown In Jabs

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Yui MokPA

A vial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

The number of people receiving a Covid-19 vaccine in the UK daily has fallen by around 75% in the last week as the supply of the jab has been squeezed.

Minsters revealed last month there would be a “significant reduction” in doses from the end of March, raising questions about whether the programme’s target dates will be met and when under-50s would be innoculated.

Supplies of vaccines in April have been constrained by the need to test a batch of 1.7 million doses and delays in a shipment of around five million from India.

Government data up to April 5 shows that first doses were given to 40,744 people on the previous day, and 64,590 got a second dose – or 105,334 in total. The number of people being injected with their first shot was the lowest since records began on January 10. A day earlier, just 95,763 people received one of their two doses. 

By contrast, just a week earlier – March 29 – 405,039 doses were distributed. And on March 5, the figure stood at 494,235. 

While the fall may seem steeper than billed, Downing Street on Tuesday moved to allay fears – insisting all adults will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by the end of July as planned.

Some 25m people have so far had a first dose of either the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine in the UK, while just under 1.8m have had both shots. The government is aiming to vaccinate all over-50s by mid-April and everyone else by the end of July.

The Cabinet Office has indicated that an average of 2.7 million doses a week will be given in England until the end of July, down from a previous estimate of 3.2 million.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson refused to be drawn on “details around supplies and deliveries” of vaccine doses but said “we remain on track” to meet the targets set for the programme.

But the Cabinet Office scenario, provided to experts on the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) suggests the squeeze on supplies may continue for months.

Papers produced by Spi-M on February 17 were based on an average of 3.2 million doses a week until the end of July and 3.9 million thereafter.

Spi-M said the central scenario provided by the Cabinet Office for its March 31 paper was “considerably slower”, with 2.7 million weekly doses until the end of July and two million from then on.

A slower scenario suggested that just 2.5 million weekly doses might be available.

The Spi-M summary notes that the two scenarios produced by the Cabinet Office “may not reflect the situation most likely to occur”.

The PM’s spokesperson added: “The health secretary set out a couple of weeks ago now the fact that there will be a slight reduction in April but the key thing to remember is that doesn’t mean that we are not on track to hit our pledges.

“We remain on track to vaccinate all those in phase one by April 15, we remain on track to vaccinate or provide the first dose to all adults by the end of July.”

The rollout will be boosted by the introduction of Moderna jabs later in April alongside the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines already being used.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics of how many we will get this month,” the spokesperson said, but “we will have three vaccines that we are able to distribute and that will ensure that we can continue to make sure we are giving people their first doses as well as giving more and more people their second doses”.

Some 26.7 million people in England have had a first dose, the equivalent of 60% of the adult population, leaving around 17.5 million adults needing their initial jab to meet the end-of-July target.

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How Controversial Covid Vaccine Passports Could Work

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The possible introduction of domestic vaccine passports in England has been hailed as “useful for us as we go forward” but also been branded “dangerous” and “discriminatory”.

Prime minister Boris Johnson has suggested that vaccine certification has a role to play as the nation seeks ways to safely ease out of lockdown.

But a cross-party group of politicians, including some Conservative MPs, fear a vaccine passport scheme could be “divisive”.

This is how they might work and why they are controversial.

How could a vaccine passport scheme work?

Any scheme is likely to go beyond just showing whether someone has had a vaccine – as jabs are not mandatory – but would also cover whether they have had Covid-19, and so are likely to have antibodies, or if they have had a recent negative test.

The finer details of how any scheme could work remain unclear but the Government is expected to issue an update on its plans this month.

Where could they be used?

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has suggested that vaccine passports will not be introduced on a “permanent basis” but they could be a beneficial “tool in the short term” to safely reopen venues.

This could potentially include hospitality venues, music events and theatres.

Johnson has suggested a certificate could give “maximum confidence” to businesses and customers as society reopens.

Last week, he said it “may be up to individual publicans” whether they carry out health certificate checks on punters before allowing them into their premises.

It could mean pub landlords may be able to scrap social distancing if they check Covid health certificates on entry, and allow them to operate at much higher capacity.

On an international level, some countries are already working on requirements for people to prove their status before arriving. The European Union is working on a digital green certificate showing if someone is vaccinated, has a negative test or has recovered from Covid-19.

Has there been opposition to the idea?

More than 70 MPs, including 40 Conservatives, as well as peers from the House of Lords, have launched a campaign to oppose the introduction of vaccine passports in England, claiming they would be “divisive and discriminatory”.

A pledge, signed by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as other prominent figures such as Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith, Labour former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and ex-Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, warns the Government against bringing in the scheme.

Baroness Chakrabarti, who warns that using coronavirus certificates could create a “checkpoint Britain,” told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s one thing to have a passport to travel internationally, that is a privilege, even a luxury, but participating in local community life is a fundamental right.”

What about the hospitality industry?

The British Beer and Pub Association (BPPA) fears that a move to recommend that pubs and other hospitality venues must demand proof of immunity from people to allow them to enter – with the threat of fines for venues if non-compliant – could prevent millions of young people visiting the pub for months, unless they get themselves tested in advance.

BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin says vaccine passports could feel like they are discriminating against sections of the population who have not had the jab, such as pregnant women.

Are any test events planned?

Reports suggest a series of pilot tests for certificates are being planned, which could include the FA Cup final and other sporting events in May.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is also exploring the possibility of using coronavirus passports to allow fans into County Championship games this summer.

With a date of June 21 in mind, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket, Neil Snowball, said: “It is going to be a question of balancing three things.

“One, if there is going to be some sort of passport or Covid certification, second is testing, third is some sort of social distancing and we have said we will do whatever we are asked to do to make sure we can get the maximum number of people back.

“The ideal would be some sort of certification with an element of social distancing and probably wearing masks.”

What issues could delay the plans?

The easing of restrictions is dependent on the continued success of the coronavirus vaccine rollout and further reductions in infection rates.

Capacities at sporting events will also be determined by the success of a number of pilot events taking place from mid-April.

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Covid Vaccine Passports: Boris Johnson Facing Tory Rebellion Over Certification Scheme

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More than 70 MPs as well as peers from the House of Lords have launched a campaign claiming coronavirus vaccine passports would be “divisive and discriminatory”.

The cross-party opposition includes 40 Tories and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

A pledge has been signed by Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith, Labour former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and ex-Lib Dem leader Tim Farron.

It has also been backed by a string of Tory former ministers including Esther McVey, Nus Ghani, Mark Harper and Harriett Baldwin.

Former shadow attorney general Baroness Shami Chakrabarti said the scheme would be “dangerous, discriminatory and counter-productive”.

The government has insisted no final decisions have been taken on whether Covid-status certification could play a role in reopening the economy.

It comes as a report in The Daily Telegraph suggested a series of pilot tests for certificates were being planned, which could include the FA Cup final and other sporting events in May.

Boris Johnson has defended the idea and suggested a certificate could give “maximum confidence” to businesses and customers as society reopens.

Any scheme is likely to go beyond just showing whether someone has had a vaccine – as jabs are not mandatory – covering whether they have had Covid-19, and so are likely to have antibodies, or if they have a negative recent test.

Baroness Chakrabarti, the former director of human rights organisation Liberty, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s dangerous, it’s discriminatory, it’s counter-productive.”

The Labour peer warned that using coronavirus certificates could create a “checkpoint Britain” as she urged for the country to “open up together” as restrictions ease.

“It’s one thing to have a passport to travel internationally, that is a privilege, even a luxury, but participating in local community life is a fundamental right,” she added.

The group’s pledge has been backed by Big Brother Watch, Liberty, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and Privacy International.

Senior Tory MP Sir Graham Brady, who is also a signatory to the pledge, which has been backed by a string of Conservative former ministers, insisted the aim should be to return to normal life.

The chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs said: “Covid-status certification would be divisive and discriminatory.

“With high levels of vaccination protecting the vulnerable and making transmission less likely, we should aim to return to normal life, not to put permanent restrictions in place.”

Earlier this week, Labour leader Keir Starmer indicated there could be opposition to the move among the public if death rates are near zero and hospital admissions are very low.

A government spokeswoman said: “The review is considering a range of issues, including the ethical, equalities, privacy, legal and operational aspects, and what limits, if any, should be placed on organisations using certification.”

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said that introducing vaccine passports could potentially “scupper things” for hospitality venues which are trying to reopen.

On the possible use of coronavirus certificates, she told BBC Breakfast: “This would be an additional burden put on to the pubs. We are desperate to get back open again. We are desperate to do that.

“We will play our part in test and trace but the additional burden of the vaccine passport could really, really scupper things.

“It is a difficult process for us to implement in venues and yet today we have not had a consultation with the government about how we would do this in pubs.”

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