Category Archives: Health policy

Millions of unjabbed a key concern as England scrambles to vaccinate

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Government’s ‘Get boosted now’ slogan means little in areas where up to 30% of people have had no vaccine at all

In the Newtown ward of central Birmingham, the government’s “Get boosted now” slogan means nothing to half of over-16s, because they have not had any vaccination against Covid at all.

It is a similar story in Westminster and Camden in London where among the over-12s, 30% have not had a single jab. In Nottingham, a quarter of the whole population face the coming Omicron “tidal wave” unvaccinated.

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Canapes and party hats in CCHQ: Boris Johnson’s latest photo nightmare

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Picture emerges showing Tory mayoral candidate, activists and a party donor crammed together during lockdown

As Christmas parties go, it may not be everyone’s idea of a good time: there are barely touched canapes, hotel buffet-style containers of hot food, a hand sanitiser dispenser visible in the background, and about 25 political activists, all crammed into a brightly lit basement in the middle of a pandemic.

Uninspiring though it might be, that is the scene captured by a photo taken at Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) last December, which emerged in the Daily Mirror on Tuesday to create another political nightmare for Boris Johnson.

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Why UK has been less keen than US to give Covid jab to children

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Differing adult uptakes, healthcare systems and cultures of medicine have played role in approaches

The UK and US may have many things in common, but when it comes to vaccinating children against Covid, the approach has been markedly different.

In May, the US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorisation of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab was expanded from people aged 16 and older to those aged 12 to 15, with two doses recommended for all those eligible.

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MPs back Covid passes in England amid large Tory rebellion

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Measure comes into force on Wednesday and was passed despite many Tories voting against

Boris Johnson has suffered a humiliating rebellion over measures to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, with 99 Conservative MPs rejecting plans for vaccine certificates despite surging infections and personal lobbying by the prime minister.

Johnson had earlier warned his cabinet of a “huge spike” in cases but failed to convince many in his party to support plans to insist on a Covid certificate or negative lateral flow test to attend large venues.

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Covid passports could increase vaccine uptake, study suggests

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Certification encouraged vaccination in countries with low coverage, especially among young people

Coronavirus passports could lead to increased uptake of vaccines, especially among young people, a study suggests.

Research by the University of Oxford found Covid-19 certification led to increased jab uptake 20 days before and 40 days after introduction in countries with lower-than-average vaccination coverage. Increase in vaccine uptake was most pronounced in people under 30. The modelling analysis was published in The Lancet Public Health.

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‘So depressing’: Covid empties City of London of pre-Christmas cheer

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The ‘work from home’ rules are less stringent than before in the financial hub, but many seem to be staying away

At about 1pm in Paternoster Square on Monday, four placid, Christmassy eyes gazed at the trickle of workers emerging from the London Stock Exchange in search of lunch. “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE REINDEER,” a sign on the enclosure said. “THIS IS TO PREVENT THE TRANSMISSION OF CORONAVIRUS.”

“I remember when you could stroke them,” said a passing trader. “It’s so depressing. I wish I’d stayed at home now.”

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Heads warn of Omicron chaos in English schools, with staff and pupils absent

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Some schools said to have up to half their teachers off due to Covid, and there are fears parents will keep pupils at home

Headteachers are warning of “chaos” in England’s schools as Omicron sweeps across the country, with high levels of staff and pupil absences and reports that parents are planning to keep children home to avoid the virus before Christmas.

School leaders and unions urged the government to introduce more protective measures, including masks in classrooms, better ventilation and tougher isolation rules to try to slow the spread of the virus before the holidays.

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UK’s 1m a day booster rollout is strategy of short-term pain for long-term gain

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Analysis: next few weeks will be tough for anyone who relies on the health service as well as those who work in it

The wording of the four home nations’ chief medical officers joint statement on Sunday was undramatic but still ominous. “Transmission of Covid-19 is already high in the community, mainly still driven by Delta, but the emergence of Omicron adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services.”

Given that “vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced … hospitalisations from Omicron are already occurring and these are likely to increase rapidly”, they added.

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UK has Omicron Covid patients in hospital, government confirms

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Top UK medical adviser says growing number of people going to emergency departments diagnosed with Omicron

People have been admitted to hospital with the Omicron variant in Britain, a government minister has confirmed, as a senior public health adviser said further curbs may be needed.

The education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said he could confirm there were “cases in hospital with Omicron”. “We’ve been able to test people who are in hospital over the past two weeks, and so there is a lag to hospitalisation,” he told Trevor Phillips on Sky News.

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Will Omicron kill Christmas? How science stacks up in boosters v Covid variant battle

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Analysis: UK faces grim winter if vaccines offer poor overall protection, but if the virus has weak powers to evade immunity, hospital cases can be contained

Two competing forces will determine Omicron’s impact on the nation over the next few weeks. The power of booster jabs to give last-minute protection against Covid-19 will be pitted against the new variant’s ability to elude existing immunity. The outcome will decide whether our festive season is going to be muted or miserable.

If enough arms are jabbed with booster vaccines, while Omicron turns out to have poor powers to evade immunity, then there is hope hospital cases will be contained and the NHS will be protected. Severe restrictions in the new year – including the prospect of lockdowns – could be avoided.

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Wales asks people to ‘flow before you go’ to stop Omicron spread

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Mark Drakeford also urges mask-wearing in pubs as Covid cases likely to rise ‘quickly and sharply’

People should take a lateral flow test before going out Christmas shopping or to a festive party, the Welsh government has said.

The first minister, Mark Drakeford, is also asking people to wear face coverings in pubs and restaurants except when they are eating or drinking.

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Stricter measures than plan B may be needed to rein in UK’s Omicron growth

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Analysis: scientists say home working makes sense but voice fears over advice to go ahead with parties amid steep trajectory in cases

Work from home, but keep going to Christmas parties: Boris Johnson’s advice has prompted questions about the logic behind plan B and left a lingering sense of confusion about the scale of the threat posed by the Omicron variant. So does the plan stand up to scrutiny?

Scientists say that making working from home a first line of defence, ahead of social gatherings, is not necessarily a frivolous choice. In the hierarchy of measures that can be deployed, working from home is an effective way to bring down people’s daily contacts and is relatively painless economically. However, many fear that the threat posed by Omicron will require more than the first line of defence and that plan B does not go far enough.

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Labour MPs report Boris Johnson to police over 2020 Christmas parties

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Met asked to investigate reports of alleged breaches of Covid lockdown rules at No 10

The prime minister has been reported to the police by Labour MPs over allegations there were at least two parties in Downing Street during lockdown restrictions last year.

Neil Coyle, Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, wrote to the Met police commissioner, Cressida Dick, asking her to investigate reports that the prime minister spoke at a leaving do in November and also allowed a staff Christmas party to go ahead in December.

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Act now against Omicron to stop new Covid wave, UK ministers warned

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Government privately being urged by advisers to tell people to work from home as UK cases of variant hit 134

UK ministers have been warned they cannot wait for new research on the Omicron variant and must act now to prevent a potentially “very significant wave of infections” that risks overwhelming the NHS.

A 75 further cases of the variant have been identified in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday night, bringing the total number of UK confirmed cases to 134. The head of the agency, Dr Jenny Harries, said: “We have started to see cases where there are no links to travel, suggesting that we have a small amount of community transmission.”

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Covid-19 variants may not evolve to be less dangerous, says Neil Ferguson

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Senior UK scientist says extent of threat posed by Omicron will not be clear until end of year

People should not assume that Covid will evolve to become a milder disease, a senior scientist has warned, adding that the threat posed by the Omicron coronavirus variant will not be clear until the end of December.

Prof Neil Ferguson, head of the disease outbreak analysis and modelling group at Imperial College London, told MPs on Wednesday that while evolution would drive Covid to spread more easily the virus might not become less dangerous.

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Johnson does not deny Christmas party held at No 10 during lockdown last year

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PM says all guidance was followed but Keir Starmer says Johnson ‘taking British public for fools’

Boris Johnson has not denied that parties were held in Downing Street last winter despite the lockdown at the time, saying only that no Covid rules were broken.

Johnson was challenged during prime minister’s questions about the allegations, first reported by the Mirror. Keir Starmer told MPs that Johnson was “taking the British public for fools for following the rules”.

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Even after 40 years the response to Aids in many countries is still held back by stigma | Hakima Himmich and Mike Podmore

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It is hard to protect yourself from HIV when having sterile syringes or condoms can lead to arrest: discrimination is restricting progress in eliminating HIV

Forty years after the first cases of Aids were discovered, goals for its global elimination have yet to be achieved. In 2020, nearly 700,000 people died of Aids-related illnesses and 1.5 million people were newly infected with HIV.

This is despite scientific and medical advances in the testing, treatment and care of people living with HIV.

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Omicron Covid variant cases expected to rise, says UK health minister – video

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The UK health minister, Edward Argar, has said he expects cases of the new Omicron Covid variant to rise after a number of infections were confirmed in Britain. New restrictions are being imposed this week in an attempt to limit the spread of the variant, first identified in South Africa, which scientists fear could be highly transmissible and evade some vaccine protections.

Argar reiterated comments that ministers were hopeful that 'swift, precautionary steps' would mean no extra measures would be needed to combat the new variant.

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Omicron variant spreads to Europe as UK announces countermeasures

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Experts stress importance of delaying import of new Covid variant to UK to avoid Christmas mixing

As an alarming new Covid variant spread to Europe on Friday, scientists warned that it would inevitably reach Britain, while ministers faced calls to urgently speed up the vaccination programme.

Thousands of travellers were left stranded or with their plans in disarray after flight bans were introduced targeting countries across southern Africa, where the variant was discovered. Hotel quarantine and enhanced testing would be brought in across the UK, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, said.

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