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Invitations to book a Covid-19 booster jab are being sent to 1.5 million people in England this week.
Those eligible will receive one dose of the Pfizer vaccine or half a dose of the Moderna vaccine.
The latest rollout is targeting:
- Those living in residential care homes for older adults.
- All adults aged 50 years or over.
- Frontline health and social care workers.
- All those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid-19, and adult carers.
- Adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals.
NHS England said millions more invites will be issued in the coming days and weeks.
One reader declined the offer, and he is encouraging others to follow suit.
Updated
The United States is planning to donate another 500 million Covid-19 vaccines to nations around the world, Reuters reports.
President Biden is likely to announce the new pledge at a virtual summit on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the plan.
The US previously purchased 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in June, donating them through COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing platform.
It is understood that the additional donation will also be Pfizer.
Updated
US Covid-19 deaths reach average of more than 1,900 a day
Covid-19 deaths in the United States have reached an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since March.
Nearly 64% of the population has now received at least one vaccine dose, yet average deaths per day have climbed 40% over the past two weeks, from 1,387 to 1,947, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
West Virginia has had more deaths in the first three weeks of September — 340 — than in the previous three months combined, while Georgia is averaging 125 dead per day, more than California or other more populous states.
The number of vaccine-eligible Americans who have yet to get a shot has been put at more than 70 million, Associated Press reports.
Many low-vaccination communities also have high rates of conditions like obesity and diabetes, said Dr. William Moss of Johns Hopkins.
The combination, along with the emergence of the more contagious Delta variant, has proved lethal.
Dr. William Moss added:
I think this is a real failure of society and our most egregious sin to be at this stage where we have hospitals overwhelmed, ICUs overwhelmed and hitting this mark in terms of deaths per day.
New cases of the coronavirus per day in the US have dropped since the start of September and are now running at about 139,000, but deaths typically take longer to fall, as it takes time for patients to succumb.
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WHO: Delta overwhelming other Covid-19 variants of concern
Delta is by far the dominant strain of Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), having overwhelmed the other three variants of concern, which now represent a tiny proportion of cases.
First identified in India, the Delta variant is far more infectious than the previously dominant Alpha variant, initially identified in Kent.
The UN health agency decided to name variants after letters of the Greek alphabet earlier this year to avoid the countries that first detected them being stigmatised.
Speaking at a WHO social media live interaction, Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on Covid-19, said:
Less than one percent each of Alpha, Beta and Gamma are currently circulating.
It’s really predominantly Delta around the world. Delta has become more fit, it is more transmissible and it is out-competing.
It is replacing the other viruses that are circulating.
Delta has been detected in more than 185 countries to date.
In addition to the four variants of concern, there are five variants of interest, but Van Kerkhove said three of them - Eta, Iota and Kappa - were now being downgraded to variants under monitoring.
“This is really due to changes in circulation and that the variants of interest are just out-competed by the variants of concern. They’re just not taking hold,” Maria Van Kerkhove added.
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Turkey recorded 29,338 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest number of daily infections since 30 April, along with 260 new deaths.
The daily death toll since mid-July has been among the sharpest of countries in Europe and the Middle East, Reuters reports.
Turkey reopened schools to in-person education this month and removed most coronavirus measures over the summer.
Earlier this month, Ankara began asking for a negative PCR test or proof of vaccination from teachers and also for certain public events.
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Military personnel will be drafted in as ambulance drivers in Scotland to alleviate pressure on the service.
Nicola Sturgeon announced last week she would request help to ease a backlog which was causing long waits for patients.
The military will provide 114 drivers and support staff, along with a further 111 staff to operate mobile testing units.
The Scottish government recently came under fire after a man found collapsed at his home in Glasgow died following a 40-hour wait for an ambulance.
An investigation is under way, after it was reported that the family of 65-year-old Gerard Brown were told the delay cost their father his life, with the man’s GP calling the service “third-world medicine”.
Earlier in the week, the Scottish health secretary, Humza Yousaf, faced criticism for suggesting people should “think twice” before calling an ambulance and should do so only if it was “absolutely critical”, as he said the NHS was in for “an extraordinarily difficult winter”.
Updated
Iran is considering the purchase of two million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to a senior health official.
The country is battling the Middle East’s worst coronavirus outbreak, having recorded nearly 118,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Mohammad-Reza Shanehsaz, head of Iran’s food and drug administration, said a contract is being drawn up for the import “within one to two months” of two million doses of the Pfizer vaccine produced in Belgium.
More than 30 million people have received a first vaccine dose and 14.1 million people have been fully inoculated in Iran, a country of about 83 million.
On Sunday, the authorities announced the reopening of museums in Tehran and the country’s main cities, after being largely closed for more than a year.
Germany is reeling after a petrol station worker was shot dead by a 49-year-old customer who refused to wear a face mask.
Authorities in the western town of Trier said the unnamed suspect, a German citizen, told officers he acted “out of anger” after the 20-year-old cashier in the town of Idar-Oberstein, in Rhineland-Palatinate, asked him to put on a mask.
With the country five days away from a general election, politicians from across the spectrum condemned the killing and voiced concern about the radicalisation of the anti-mask movement.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the centre-left Social Democrats, the frontrunner to succeed outgoing Chancellor Angel Merkel, said he was “shocked” by the murder of someone who only wanted “to protect himself and others”.
“As a society, we must resolutely stand up to hatred,” he tweeted.
Good evening, Euan O’Byrne Mulligan here. I’m taking over the blog for the next few hours.
Updated
Hi, I’m handing over the live blog to my colleague now for the evening. Here’s a summary of today’s Covid news
Summary
- Finland’s government has approved plans for a national “corona pass”.
- Cambridge University in England has reported that 96 per cent of 12,000 students said that they had received a Covid-19 vaccination, or intended to get one, before arriving in the city for the new academic year.
- Around 20% of workers in Nigeria have lost their jobs as a result of Covid-19.
- The president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has been defending his government’s handling of the Covid pandemic at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
- Several parts of Wales saw the highest rise in Covid cases across the UK last week.
- In the UK, another 31,564 people tested positive for Covid in the last 24 hours - an increase of almost 5,000 on last Tuesday.
- President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the Covid-19 pandemic
- The United Nations secretary- general, António Guterres, described the world as getting an “F in ethics” over global vaccine distribution as he spoke at the U.N. General Assembly today.
- He said the inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines is an “obscenity”.
- The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned that uneven vaccine distribution globally is affecting economic recovery from the pandemic.
- The Covid pandemic has driven an ongoing shift away from cash to card payments in the UK – with £4 in every £5 pounds spent last year being on a debit or credit card.
- The mass take-up of the UK’s NHS app in order to use the Covid Pass feature has led to a surge in people registering their organ donation preference.
- Long Covid patients have been telling a UK parliamentary committee that they are ‘ “struggling’” to get help on the NHS
- The EU is expected to accept the NHS Covid pass as proof of vaccination across the union within days
- One of England’s most well known tourist destinations, the Eden Project in Cornwall, will be closed to visitors for a week in November so staff can have a paid break to recover from the pandemic
- British Pprime M minister Boris Johnson has been telling US media that ‘ “sweet reasoning’” and ‘ “persuasion’” were behind the high take up of the Covid vaccination in the UK.
- The British Medical Association has written to the health secretary urging him to step in and tackle “the wave of growing abuse” against GPs.
- Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister, has disclosed suffering a severe bout of Covid-19 that was probably her “worst experience” of illness.
- The NHS in England has missed its target to diagnose and treat 85% of cancer patients within two months of urgent referral for almost six years running, according to a new analysis.
- The reopening of schools in England has sparked a huge surge in Covid cases among students and pupils in England, with official figures showing that more than 100,000 children were absent with confirmed or suspected coronavirus infections last week.
- The virus has killed at least 4,696,559 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources released this morning
- The Indian government has asked Britain to end what it says is a discriminatory approach to vaccines made in India
- New data from J&J shows that although a single jab is effective, a second jab given around two months later increases effectiveness to 94 % against moderate to severe disease.
- The head of the Royal College of GPs has warned MPs that ‘the pandemic isn’t over’
- A year of working from home for millions in the UK led to a ‘ “sharp reduction’” in personal travel that drove household greenhouse gas emissions down by 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year.
Updated
Finland’s government has approved plans for a national “corona pass”. Infection rates are falling in the country and the scheme may never be put into use.
Vaccine passports that control access to public spaces - from restaurants to shops - are already in place in countries such as France, Italy and the Netherlands and have been the subject of intense debate as well as protests. The passports, or apps, can require people to show proof of Covid vaccination, negative testing or a previous infection.
“The premise is... that there will be no need for the corona pass,” Health Minister Krista Kiuru told journalists, citing the government’s plan to remove all Covid restrictions once 80 percent of all over-12s are vaccinated.
But the pass could be required in certain areas “if a significant outbreak occurs”, she added.
The scheme “is not a restriction, it is a freedom from restrictions”, Kiuru said.
Finland has maintained some of the EU’s lowest incidence rates throughout the pandemic and has good vaccination rates.
Over 66.6 percent of over-12s have had both jabs, and the 80 percent target is expected to be reached in mid-October, the government has said.
Debate is still raging across Europe over the necessity of Covid passports. Earlier today British prime minister Boris Johnson told US journalists that the UK approach was about persuasion not mandatory jabs.
Updated
Cambridge University in England has reported that 96 per cent of 12,000 students said that they had received a Covid-19 vaccination, or intended to get one, before arriving in the city for the new academic year.
Universities across the UK are getting ready to welcome back students, many for in person learning again and the research will be used to reassure staff and locals that the students are mostly vaccinated.
Just over half of the student body in Cambridge completed the survey and 96% of the respondents indicated that they were already vaccinated or intended to be before returning for the new term, which starts in October.
A further 2.4% indicated they would need either one dose or two of a vaccination on their return to Cambridge.
Just 0.5% said they were not planning to be vaccinated at all.
Professor Graham Virgo, senior pro-vice-chancellor for education, said: “We’ve been hearing in the media for some time about concerns about the university age group being vaccinated, so we were really pleased with that level of return, 96%.
Around 20% of workers in Nigeria have lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19.
Reuters reports that the National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria worked with the UN to survey 3,000 businesses.
“While there have been promising signs of recovery this year, COVID-19 has had an outsized socio-economic impact on Nigeria,” the two organisations said in a statement.
Businesses complained about revenue declines, higher costs and an inadequate safety net for those in the informal sector, they said, adding that the disruption could leave a lasting impact on enterprises.
The West African nation’s economy, the biggest on the continent, was hammered by the fall in oil prices following disruptions caused by the pandemic. The country relies on crude exports for around 70% of government revenues.
The bank has said that the COVID-induced crisis was expected to push over 11 million Nigerians into poverty by 2022, taking the total number of people classified as poor in the country to over half the entire 200 million population.
The president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has been defending his government’s handling of the Covid pandemic at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. In his speech to world leaders and UN grandees he said that everyone in his country who wants a vaccine would have one this year.
“By November, everyone who chooses to be vaccinated in Brazil will be attended to,” Bolsonaro said. “We support vaccination. However, our government has opposed vaccine passports or any obligation to get a vaccine.”
He has openly ignored the requirement for all attendees at the UN to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He is unvaccinated - although he had Covid last year - and has repeatedly insisted that getting a shot is a personal, medical decision.
He also doubled-down on “early treatment” drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, without naming the drug. The anti-malarial offered initial promise but scientists have roundly dismissed as ineffective against COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine was central to the chaos of pandemic response in Brazil, presided over by four different health ministers, two of whom opposed Bolsonaro’s insistence to recommend it.
Several parts of Wales saw the highest rise in Covid cases across the UK last week.
Neath Port Talbot has the highest rate in the UK, with 1,235 new cases in the seven days to September 17 - the equivalent of 855.3 per 100,000 people. This is up from 699.5 in the seven days to September 10.
The five UK areas with the biggest week-on-week rises are:
Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf (557.7 per hundred thousand up to 701.2), Vale of Glamorgan (502.6 to 631.2), Blaenau Gwent (522.7 to 645.5) and Stafford (306.1 to 425.8)
31,564 people test positive in UK, with 203 further deaths
In the UK, another 31,564 people tested positive for Covid in the last 24 hours - an increase of almost 5,000 on last Tuesday.
The government’s dashboard shows 861 people were admitted to hospital and 203 people have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test.
President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Associated Press reports.
But the tests have already disappeared from pharmacy shelves in many parts of the US, and manufacturers warn it will take them weeks to ramp up production, after scaling it back amid plummeting demand over the summer.
Experts say encouraging signs last spring led to false confidence about the shrinking role for tests: falling case numbers, rising vaccination rates and guidance from health officials that vaccinated people could largely skip testing. Officials recently reversed that advice as cases and deaths driven by the delta variant surged anew.
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Britain reported 31,564 more cases of Covid-19 and 203 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to official data.
The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, described the world as getting an “F in ethics” over global vaccine distribution as he spoke at the UN general assembly today.
He said the inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines is an “obscenity”.
Addressing the annual UN gathering of world leaders in New York, Guterres said images from some parts of the world of expired and unused vaccines in the garbage told “the tale of our times” – with the majority of the wealthier world immunised while more than 90% of Africa has not even received one dose.
“This is a moral indictment of the state of our world. It is an obscenity. We passed the science test. But we are getting an F in ethics,” Guterres told the general assembly.
Updated
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has warned that uneven vaccine distribution globally is affecting economic recovery from the pandemic.
The OECD said today that while recovery from the pandemic was finally taking hold, it is benefiting wealthier countries more than the developing world.
Countries that have made big strides toward vaccinating most of their populations are bouncing back much more quickly than those that are still struggling to obtain shots, the OECD said.
“The global shock that pushed the world to the worst recession in a century is now fading, and we’re now projecting the recovery will bring growth back to its pre-crisis trend,” Laurence Boone, the organisation’s chief economist, was quoted as saying in the New York Times.
But Boone added. “A failure to vaccinate globally puts all of us at risk”
Updated
The Covid pandemic has driven an ongoing shift away from cash to card payments in the UK – with £4 in every £5 spent last year being on a debit or credit card. The figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that card transactions accounted for 81% of the value of spending in 2020, up from 78% the year before.
Debit cards accounted for just over half of all transactions by volume for the first time.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the longer term shift towards digital transactions meant cash accounted for just 15% of the value of total spending in retail, down from 20% in 2019.
People also tend to be making fewer shopping trips but buying more when they do make purchases.
There is a cost to shops of accepting card payments – with retailers spending £1.3bn just to accept card payments from customers in a single year.
These card fees add further cost pressures to retailers, the BRC said.
Andrew Cregan, BRC payments policy adviser, said: “The pandemic has accelerated the trend towards card payments, with more than four in every five pounds spent in retail now made with credit or debit cards.
“Basket sizes also rose, as customers made bigger, but fewer purchases. While cash use has declined in importance, it remains vital for many people who do not have access to other payment methods.”
Updated
The mass take-up of the UK’s NHS app in order to use the Covid pass feature has led to a surge in people registering their organ donation preference.
The Covid pass feature was introduced on 17 May and has been downloaded by 16 million people. It can be used to prove vaccination status for entry to events or to travel abroad. It has
In an unexpected bonus for the NHS and for people on the organ transplant list, 1.5 million people have registered their organ donation decision through the platform – with 265,000 of those doing it via the app for the first time, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
It comes after a new “opt-out” organ donation system came into effect last year, known as Max and Keira’s law. The law is named after Keira Ball, who died aged nine in 2017, and Max Johnson, now 13, who was saved by her heart.
“Since the new organ donation law came into effect, our priority has been to ensure that each person knows that organ donation is still a choice,” said Alex Hudson, the head of the NHS Organ Donor Register at NHS Blood and Transplant.
“By enabling people to check, amend and update their organ donation decision, the NHS app makes it easier than ever for people to manage and control their own organ donation decision.
“Even though organ donation has changed to an opt-out system, it is important for people to be aware that families will still always be approached before organ donation goes ahead.
“When a person has proactively registered their organ donation decision, we know this provides great comfort and reassurance for families at what is an incredibly difficult time.”
Over the last four months, almost 3.2m repeat prescriptions were also ordered within the app, while more than 268,000 GP appointment bookings were made.
Updated
Long Covid patients have been telling a UK parliamentary committee that they are “struggling” to get help on the NHS. One patient told the health and social care committee that they have been “met with shrugs”.
But MPs also heard that the NHS in England was a “frontrunner” when it comes to long Covid support compared to other countries.
Helen Lunt Davies, who first became ill in March 2020, told the committee she had to fight for care and that her GP thought her symptoms were due to anxiety.
Lunt Davies, a jeweller, described how was was left bed-bound for four months, saying: “I contracted Covid in the very first wave in March 2020, and my life has completely changed since then, my life is unrecognisable from what it was before.”
“Just in the last three or four months I’ve started getting anywhere near a normal life again, for the first four to six months I was pretty much bed-bound and my husband had to do absolutely everything for me.
“I couldn’t even concentrate well enough to make a cup of tea and beans on toast at the same time.”
She said she had a hard time accessing care through GP services and found it hard to explain her situation “over and over again” every time she called to ask for help.
In August, she was referred to a Long Covid Hub at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and praised the care she has received there.
Lunt Davies continued: “I don’t think that people who were as ill as I was should be left to fight for treatment every step of the way.
Lere Fisher told MPs that he found it difficult “not being believed” about his long Covid symptoms.
The 47-year-old told MPs his attempts to seek help had been “horrendous” and he had been told to take paracetamol and offered counselling.
“When I spoke to my GP they actually laughed when I said ‘these are my symptoms and this is what I believe that I have’. I was told to have paracetamol with a glass of water. I wasn’t offered any form of referral or any other advice.”
Prof Martin Marshall, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “I’ve been a GP for over 30 years – I’m not sure I can remember very many new conditions that have come along in that time.
“We always have to update – there are developments in every condition – but to have a completely new condition, I think is a real rarity. So it’s not surprising that we didn’t know very much about it.
“Because it’s a new condition, it’s one of those slightly strange (circumstances) where it’s not uncommon for patients to know more than their GP about it.
The NHS in England has created a network of long Covid clinics across the country, including specialist services for children. It has also set up the Your Covid Recovery website to support people with ongoing symptoms.
Updated
EU set to recognise NHS Covid pass
The EU is expected to accept the NHS Covid pass as proof of vaccination across the union within days, as the Netherlands warned British tourists that they will otherwise need to take a daily test to visit Dutch bars, restaurants and museums.
Nearly two months after making an application to the European commission, UK officials said they believed Brussels would “shortly” recognise the NHS certificate as equivalent to the EU’s own digital pass.
Sources in Brussels suggested that agreement could be expected by the end of the month, with “significant progress” having been made in recent weeks on the technical tie-up of the systems.
The decision would ensure that all 27 member states and 16 non-EU countries automatically allow entry to visitors from England and Wales carrying the NHS Covid pass, which contains a QR code.
The app would also be recognised by hospitality premises in countries where proof of vaccination is necessary for entry to bars, restaurants and cultural events.
The lack of “equivalence” status has been a thorn in the side of British tourists seeking to visit a range of European destinations and for those people who were vaccinated in the UK but who live abroad.
The problem has become particularly acute as an increasing number of EU governments have introduced a need for a Covid pass to attend events or be admitted to places of hospitality.
As of 25 September, people vaccinated in the UK but visiting or living in the Netherlands, for example, face having to show proof of a negative coronavirus test taken in the previous 24 hours in order to enter a restaurant, bar, museum, cultural event or sports stadium.
In Switzerland, expats spoke of being unable to attend sporting facilities, including gyms, due to the NHS Covid pass being regarded as invalid.
The NHS Covid pass has been accepted unilaterally by 19 EU countries, including France, as proof of vaccination at the border but even in some of these countries recognition was not always automatic for those seeking to go to a bar or restaurant.
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One of England’s most well known tourist destinations, the Eden Project in Cornwall, will be closed to visitors for a week in November and staff given a week’s extra paid leave.
Eden’s 400 staff and 120 volunteers are being encouraged to switch off from work and rest as much as they can during the time off.
Interim chief executive David Harland said: “We’re all very aware of how unusual the last 18 months have been for all of us.
“In that time at Eden we’ve seen three lockdowns, a large-scale restructure, two busy summer seasons, a major landslip which temporarily closed the site, the visit of the G7 world leaders and five members of the royal family on the same evening, and just this month the return of the Eden Sessions concerts and the Eden Classic cycling event.
“We’re giving everyone a week away from work with full pay and encouraging them to have a really good break.”
Other major employers around the world have given staff paid time off in the wake of Covid lockdowns – last month Nike announced its head office staff in the US would have a week off to “destress” from the pressures of the pandemic.
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British prime minister Boris Johnson has been telling US media that “sweet reasoning” and “persuasion” were behind the high take up of the Covid vaccination in the UK.
Johnson was being interviewed by broadcaster NBC during his trip to New York for the UN general assembly when he was asked about mandatory vaccination.
In the US, president Joe Biden is pushing ahead with an order that all US companies employing more than 100 people must require their staff to be fully vaccinated or have weekly Covid tests.
Johnson said: “Different strokes for different folks, OK? It’s up to different countries to decide how they want to approach this. This is a very controversial area, people feel very strongly about not having the state mandate something.
“In my country, we’re great lovers of liberty, we’ve had to do it by sweet reasoning and persuasion, and that’s working.”
Asked what happened if persuasion did not work, he said: “Keep going, more sweet reasoning.”
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The British Medical Association has written to the health secretary urging him to step in and tackle “the wave of growing abuse” against GPs.
Last Friday, four members of staff suffered injuries at the Florence House Medical Practice in Openshaw, Manchester, on Friday afternoon.
Two of the victims were taken to hospital with head injuries and a 59-year-old man was arrested and charged with assault.
In the letter to Sajid Javid, the BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said there needed to be a change in legislation to increase the maximum prison sentence for assault against emergency workers from 12 months to two years.
The letter also said the government must publicly support the profession by condemning “the onslaught of abuse and media scapegoating of GPs and their staff”.
GPs have also come under fire in the media over the number of remote consultations now offered to patients.
Calling for a meeting with the government, Dr Nagpaul said GPs had worked tirelessly over the course of the pandemic, as had general practice staff.
He said the narrative that practices are not offering face-to-face appointments is “as dangerous as it is inaccurate”.
Dr Nagpaul added: “The reality, as you must know, is that with the constraints of the size of GP practice premises, there are limits on how many people can safely be present in a waiting room while adhering to appropriate infection control measures.
“GP practices, in the same way as hospitals, are using telephone, video and online consultations to assess patients (in accordance with NHS England guidance) and provide them with physical face-to-face consultations when this is needed. It is soul-destroying for GPs and their staff to hear the narrative that they are ‘closed’.”
He said the truth was that “GPs are seeing more patients than ever” and “working longer hours than ever”.
NHS GP appointments data shows there were nearly 1m more appointments in July 2021 than pre-pandemic levels (July 2019), he added.
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Northern Ireland: deputy first minister was ‘floored’ by Covid
Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister, has disclosed suffering a severe bout of Covid-19 that was probably her “worst experience” of illness.
The Sinn Féin politician credited her full vaccination with facilitating recovery and urged all eligible people to get jabbed. “Given that I felt so bad, I can only imagine what it would have been like if you didn’t have the vaccination,” she told the BBC.
O’Neill, 44, who announced on 31 August she had contracted the virus, said it “scared” and “absolutely floored” her. She contemplated hospitalisation and wondered what she should tell her children given how “tragic” the disease can be, she said.
Northern Ireland’s vaccination rate lags the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
On Tuesday, O’Neill warned Northern Ireland’s health service was “about to topple over” because of pressures on staff. “They’re begging for our support. They are physically and mentally exhausted,” she said during a visit to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast with the first minister, Paul Givan.
Givan, of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), said the Stormont executive would take a “measured approach” when it meets on Thursday to discuss Covid-19 plans.
Updated
The NHS in England has missed its target to diagnose and treat 85% of cancer patients within two months of urgent referral for almost six years running, according to analysis.
Cancer Research UK used NHS data to calculate that almost 55,000 cancer patients should have been diagnosed more quickly or started their treatment sooner over that time frame.
The NHS target states that 85% of patients should start a first treatment for cancer within two months of an urgent GP referral.
Cancer Research UK said this target is being missed, and the figures are getting worse. Data shows the target has not been met since 2015.
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “While NHS staff have been doing their utmost, the impact of Covid-19 and years of workforce shortages and insufficient infrastructure have meant that cancer targets continue to be missed.
“Cancer won’t wait and the time for the government to fix these chronic issues is now.
Prof Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said: “For people with cancer, every day counts; that is why we have cancer targets.
“I’ve been working in the NHS for a long time and it’s hard to watch the continuous deterioration, and the anxiety and worsening outcomes this can cause patients.
Updated
More than 4.6 million people have died of Covid globally
Figures compiled by press agency AFP show the enormous scale of the impact Covid 19 has had since it was detected in China in late 2019.
The virus has killed at least 4,696,559 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources released this morning. At least 229,008,620 cases of coronavirus have been registered with the vast majority of those infected recovering from the virus.
The figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country. The World Health Organization estimates that the pandemic’s wider impact could be linked to a death rate three times higher due to the excess mortality that is directly and indirectly linked to Covid-19.
A large number of the less severe or asymptomatic cases also remain undetected, despite intensified testing in many countries.
The United States is the worst-affected country in terms of absolute numbers with 676,092 deaths from 42,290,027 cases.
The country with the highest number of deaths compared with its population is Peru with 604 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina with 314, Hungary with 312, the Republic of North Macedonia with 311, Montenegro with 296, and Bulgaria with 288.
Updated
England: 100,000 children off school with Covid or suspected Covid in one day last week
The reopening of schools in England has sparked a huge surge in Covid cases among students and pupils in England, with official figures showing that more than 100,000 children were absent with confirmed or suspected coronavirus infections last week.
The figures from the Department for Education revealed that fewer than 92% of pupils were present in classrooms on 16 September, with 59,000 absent with confirmed cases of Covid-19 and a further 45,000 off with suspected cases.
A further 2,000 children missed school “due to attendance restrictions being in place to manage an outbreak,” according to the DfE.
The total of 103,000 with confirmed or suspected cases is higher than the number seen at the end of the last school year. In mid-July, the DfE said just 82,000 children were absent with confirmed or suspected cases.
The statistics are the first official indications of the spread of the virus within schools and colleges since the start of the new school year at the start of September, when the use of preventive measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and the use of small group “bubbles” was abandoned by the DfE.
In July, more than a million children were absent overall, but that included more than 930,000 children self-isolating because of classroom contacts. This year the DfE has said that children who are close contacts of confirmed or suspected cases do not need to self-isolate unless they display symptoms.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is clear from the fact that over 100,000 pupils were absent from school last week with a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus that educational disruption remains significant. We are hearing of schools where significant numbers of pupils are absent.
“We are hopeful that the vaccination programme for 12- to 15-year-olds will help to reduce this level of disruption. However, the government must also take more action to support schools and colleges.
“It should launch a public information campaign to encourage twice-weekly home-testing among pupils in the appropriate age groups, provide funding for high-quality ventilation systems in schools and colleges, and commit to providing more support if on-site testing is directed under the contingency framework.”
Barton also urged the government to publish its plans for 2022’s A-level and GCSE exams, saying it was “extremely frustrating” that guidance has still not been issued.
Nadhim Zahawi, the new education secretary, said it was “fantastic” to see more than 91% of children back in the classroom, compare with 87% this time last year. “That’s down to the hard work of teachers, support staff as well as families whose efforts have been heroic in making sure children can get back to school safely.
“The rollout of the vaccine to those aged 12-15, which started this week, is another significant step in building the walls of protection from the virus across society,” Zahawi said.
Updated
The Indian government has asked Britain to end what it says is a discriminatory approach to vaccines made in India
India’s Covidshield vaccine is developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured in India but it is not recognized for travel purposes under new Uk rules. Because of this, India’s visiting the UK will have to quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated.
Britons vaccinated in the UK with the same Indian-made doses are not required to quarantine.
Indian government sources saying it was likely to take reciprocal steps if the issue is not quickly resolved.
“Urged early resolution of quarantine issue in mutual interest,” foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a tweet after a meeting with his British counterpart Liz Truss in New York, where both are attending the United Nations general assembly.
The British High Commission (embassy) in New Delhi said the United Kingdom was working with India to resolve the issue.
“We are engaging with the government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India,” a spokesperson said.
The rules, that mandate 10 days of self-isolation for travellers arriving from India, also apply to many other countries using Covishield, including most African ones.
Updated
Johnson and Johnson booster shot gives ‘94% protection’
New data from J&J shows that although a single jab is effective, a second jab given about two months later increases effectiveness to 94% against moderate to severe disease. This is higher than the 70% protection given by a single dose.
President Joe Biden is pushing for booster shots in the face of surging hospitalisations caused by the Delta variant and J&J, the only drug-maker with a single-shot Covid-19 vaccine approved in the US, has been under pressure to produce evidence on the effectiveness of an additional dose.
Updated
Senior GP defends remote appointments, warning ‘pandemic isn’t over’
The head of the Royal College of GPs has been talking to the Health and Social Care Committee about remote consultations – defending doctors against recent criticism.
Prof Martin Marshall said that some patients preferred appointments over the phone or via video, while others wanted to be seen face-to-face, but could not be due to Covid.
He said about 80% of general practice appointments were conducted face-to-face prior to the pandemic, dropping to 10% in the first wave and now sitting at about 56%.
“What we’ve learned from the pandemic is we can do more in general practice remotely than we thought we could, and that’s a positive bit of learning,” he said.
“There’s a lot of stuff that can be done without having to examine someone or be in the same room. Having said that, face-to face-contact is a really important part of dealing with, particularly, more complex problems.”
Asked if patients had a right to see a GP in person, Prof Marshall said: “People are saying that the patient should have a right. There’s no point in having a right if it’s undeliverable and it is essentially undeliverable at the moment, because of the workload pressures.”
He said GP workload had gone up over the pandemic “and indeed over the last decade”.
And he added: “The second thing is, really importantly, the pandemic isn’t over. We’d like to think it is – it isn’t over, it might be over for pubs and nightclubs, it’s not over for health services.
“It’s really important that if you run a health service, whether it be in general practice or in hospitals, that you protect vulnerable patients.
“The prevalence (is) around one in 70 and 80 patients in this country have got Covid, so the idea of having somebody who is fit and healthy but shedding the virus sitting next to someone who’s vulnerable in a waiting room is just not something that’s acceptable.”
GPs have come under fire in the media for not offering enough face-to-face appointments, with health secretary Sajid Javid saying the government would urge them to do so.
On Tuesday, Dr Richard Vautrey, from the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said the “anti-GP rhetoric in the media risks fuelling a climate of spiralling abuse”.
Updated
A year of working from home for millions in the UK led to a “sharp reduction” in personal travel that drove household greenhouse gas emissions down by 15m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year.
The drop is equal to about 3% of total UK emissions in 2019.
Even the increase in people turning the heating on at home – working at the kitchen table or furloughed – was more than offset by the drop in travel emissions the Office for National Statistics found.
CO2 equivalent is a way of measuring the global warming potential of various greenhouse gases, including methane and nitrous oxide as well as carbon dioxide.
With reduced industrial emissions, households have been the single biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the UK since 2015. Both the energy and manufacturing sectors have reduced emissions significantly over the last decade, while household emissions have remained relatively high. This has increased interest in reducing household emissions to help cut overall emissions to “net zero” by 2050.
Net zero would mean that total UK emissions would be equal to or less than those removed from the environment, achieved by a combination of reduction and removal of emissions.
Updated
Here's a summary of the latest developments
- The Stormont deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, has warned that Northern Ireland’s health service is “about to topple over” amid the pandemic unless immediate action is taken.
- Coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in England in August, the Office for National Statistics has said. It marks a big jump from July, when it was the ninth leading cause of death, and is the highest ranking for Covid-19 since March, when it was also the third leading cause.
- A total of 857 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending 10 September, reports the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It marked a 30% increase on the week before.
- Public sector net borrowing in the UK, excluding public sector banks, hit £20.5bn last month, reports the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It marked the second-highest August borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, but £5.5bn less than last August.
- America’s top infectious diseases expert has said it is still “needs to be worked out” whether the US will accept UK and EU travellers with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the final decision over AstraZeneca lies with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) but that he doesn’t believe there is any “reason to believe that people who have received the AZ vaccine should feel that there’s going to be any problem with them”.
- World leaders are to meet at the United Nations today for the first time in two years to discuss issues including the still raging coronavirus pandemic. More than 100 leaders are due to attend the summit in New York, with other issues on the agenda are expected to include global heating, US-China tensions and the future of Afghanistan.
That’s it from me for today. Handing over now to my colleague Harriet. Thanks for reading!
Updated
Health service in Northern Ireland is about to 'topple over' without immediate action, says Stormont
The Stormont deputy first minister has warned that Northern Ireland’s health service is “about to topple over” amid the pandemic unless immediate action is taken.
After visiting the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Michelle O’Neill said staff were “begging” for help and that staff are “physically and mentally exhausted”.
She said:
It’s very clear that the health service is about to topple over if we do not take immediate action to support the health service staff, the service itself, but also to stop the spread of the virus.
She also said:
What we heard repeatedly today is that the staff here are exhausted, they are physically and mentally exhausted, they’re extremely anxious for the winter months ahead and what that will bring...
They’re burned out is the best way probably to put it, they’re seeing increased staff absences, for obvious reasons because they’ve had to make such difficult decisions.
They’re constantly facing not just the physical exhaustion but also dealing with families at very difficult times. They’ve had to go over and above and beyond, and we can’t take any of that for granted, they’re begging for our support in the time ahead because they know they’re facing into a very difficult winter.
With normal winter pressures, with the capacity in the health service being where it is at this point in time, I think they’re just so fearful for what’s ahead.
So, they are asking for the executive’s support and I’ve given assurance today that I will reflect all the views that were expressed here today to the executive meeting as we plan for the winter months ahead.
Covid-19 third leading cause of death in England in August
Coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in England in August, the Office for National Statistics has said.
It marks a big jump from July, when it was the ninth leading cause of death, and is the highest ranking for Covid-19 since March, when it was also the third leading cause.
In Wales, Covid was the seventh leading cause of death in August - a rise from 22nd in July.
For the latest UK politics news, please follow Andrew Sparrow’s liveblog which is now up and running:
Updated
Russia has recorded 19,179 new coronavirus cases and 812 deaths in the past 24 hours, reports Reuters.
857 coronavirus deaths registered in England and Wales in week ending September 10
A total of 857 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week ending September 10, reports the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It marked a 30% increase on the week before. But the ONS said the August 30 bank holiday had an impact on the death rate during that week when many register offices were probably closed.
Around one in 13 - 7.8% - of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to September 10 cited Covid-19 on the death certificate.
A total of 160,374 death certificates have mentioned Covid-19, the ONS said. The highest number on a single day was 1,484 on January 19.
Updated
Sweden’s central bank is keeping its pandemic policies and said it expects its key interest rate to remain at zero in coming years, despite a recent rise in inflation, reports Reuters.
The Scandinavian country’s economy is back to its pre-pandemic size and growth is expected to remain strong as Covid restrictions are removed. But it plans to keep fiscal and monetary policy loose.
Sveriges Riksbank said in a statement: “Monetary policy needs to remain expansionary for inflation to be lastingly close to the target going forward.”
British Airways reported a 700% surge in searches for holidays to US destinations after America’s announcement that it is reopening to fully vaccinated UK and EU passengers, reports Sky News, and Virgin Atlantic had a 91% rise in bookings.
Updated
Health officials in Bangkok are making progress in its campaign to vaccinate 12- to 18-year-olds, reports the Associated Press.
So far, the Thai capital has been vaccinating students with underlying disease. But governor Aswin Kwanmuang said officials have requested more Pfizer vaccines from the health ministry so that all children in the age group can be vaccinated.
A total of 1,500 students received vaccine doses on Tuesday – 800 had first does and 700 had second doses.
Many schools are closed to in-person learning and Aswin said he does not want them to reopen until 70% of students are vaccinated – a goal he hopes to reach in November.
The health ministry plans to vaccinate all students aged 12 to 18 nationwide from 4 October.
Updated
UK public sector net borrowing hit £20.5bn last month amid pandemic
Public sector net borrowing in the UK, excluding public sector banks, hit £20.5bn last month, reports the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It marked the second-highest August borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, but £5.5bn less than last August.
The ONS said the coronavirus pandemic has had a “substantial impact” on the economy and on public sector borrowing and debt, but that its effects have not been fully captured.
Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks was £20.5 billion in August 2021.
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) September 21, 2021
This was the second-highest August borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, but £5.5 billion less than in August 2020 https://t.co/JB9LzHPBK5 pic.twitter.com/dO0O7EYq4y
Public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was £2,202.9 billion at the end of August 2021 or around 97.6 of GDP, the highest ratio since the 98.3% recorded in March 1963 https://t.co/XGHpF8PSR9 pic.twitter.com/hOzmVjdD4N
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) September 21, 2021
Updated
US top infectious diseases expert Fauci says it has not been decided whether America will accept UK and EU travellers with the AstraZeneca vaccine
America’s top infectious diseases expert has said it is still “needs to be worked out” whether the US will accept UK and EU travellers with the AstraZeneca vaccine and that vaccinating the world is crucial to diminishing the impact of coronavirus.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the final decision over AstraZeneca lies with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) but that he doesn’t believe there is any “reason to believe that people who have received the AZ vaccine should feel that there’s going to be any problem with them”.
It comes after the US announced it will lift Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated passengers from the UK and most European Union (EU) countries in early November.
Dr Fauci said children and those who cannot get vaccinated due to special circumstances will be exempt from the full vaccination requirement.
He said:
We feel now, given the fact that the situation in the United States is such that it’s comparable in so many respects to other countries, including for example the UK. So we feel that we want to have a uniform policy for all countries and to avoid confusion and to avoid any feeling of one country is not being favoured or is being favoured over another.
To have a uniform policy of requiring vaccinations and testing at least a couple of days before getting on a plane to come to the country. I think that makes things much less complicated and I believe it really is the kind of thing that would be acceptable to most countries.
When it comes to new variants, he said he is more concerned by the level of global vaccination than the reigniting of global travel.
He said:
One of the things that’s much more concerning about the evolution of variants is not the travel but it’s the degree and the extent of global vaccination. And the sooner we get essentially the world vaccinated, including low and middle income countries, the greater the chance we will have of not allowing variants to emerge.
He said he believes the US – and highly developed countries such as the UK – have the capacity to both issue booster doses of the vaccine and distribute vaccines around the world, saying: “I don’t think it is an either or.”
He added: “We believe we need to all do more to get doses to the rest of the world. But we believe we can do both at the same time.”
He said he does not believe that Covid-19 can ever be eradicated but that it could be much better controlled.
I don’t believe that we can ever eradicate this in the sense of getting it completely off the planet … what I believe we can do is dramatically better control, and perhaps in some countries even eliminate it. That’s going to be dependent on us.
But if we implement very very aggressively a vaccine programme, we could dramatically diminish the impact that this virus has on us in the years to come.
Updated
Health experts in Singapore are calling for compulsory coronavirus vaccinations as infections surge and vaccination take-up flattens out at 82%, reports Reuters.
The government paused the loosening of restrictions earlier this month in case severe infections overwhelmed the health system.
Dale Fisher, an infectious disease expert at the National University Hospital in Singapore, said:
I would love to see vaccine mandates in over-60s, they are the group most likely to die.
Fisher added:
It’s the same reason that age group was selected early for vaccines, the same reason that age group has been selected for booster jabs.
Although just 62 of its 5.7 million population have died from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, amid the spread of the Delta variant, daily cases have risen to about 1,000.
The US, France and Italy have announced compulsory vaccine programmes.
Alex Cook, an infectious disease modelling expert at the National University of Singapore, said:
Vaccination is much more protective than the other measures we have in place, and less economically and socially damaging.
Adding:
If we are not to enforce vaccination, it seems odd to enforce weaker and more costly measures.
Updated
Anti-vax radio shows are reaching millions of listeners in the US, while their stars die of coronavirus, reports Adam Gabbatt.
Media watchdogs have suggested that radio broadcasters should be required to assume a basic level of responsibility in order to keep their licences.
Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog, said:
When we think about talk radio, the reason it has had such influence is the reach. It still is reaching the largest number of people. Fox [News] is going to reach a couple of million people a day. Talk radio is reaching 40 million, 60 million people depending on the day, maybe even more.
The guys who are dying, you could treat them as [having] small radio shows, but they have really high concentration in their communities.
Updated
The UK business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, also insisted that “the security of supply is not an issue”.
He told Sky News that he accepted that some people may struggle to heat their homes due to cost but that it would not be as a result of a gas supply shortage.
He claimed it is a “myth” that the supply could run out, adding:
What I said yesterday was the security of supply is not an issue. We’ve got lots of diverse sources of gas.
UK business secretary says next few days will be 'quite challenging' amid energy crisis
The UK business secretary has said the next few days will be “quite challenging” amid the energy crisis, but that he is “very confident” that the country can get through it
Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News that it is not unusual for companies to fold at this time of year but that he does not think “we should be throwing tax payer money at companies which have been badly run”. He added that the price cap is “here to stay”.
Companies are struggling with a shortage of haulage and staff in connection with Brexit and Covid-19 and a global supply chain disruption linked to the pandemic.
Business Sec @KwasiKwarteng suggests it is not unusual for energy companies to fold this time of year, but adds he doesn't think "we should be throwing tax payer money at companies which have been badly run" as he confirms the price cap is "here to stay".https://t.co/YU89vNxmji pic.twitter.com/Etgwncws45
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 21, 2021
World leaders are to meet at the United Nations today for the first time in two years to discuss issues including the still raging coronavirus pandemic.
More than 100 leaders are due to attend the summit in New York, with other issues on the agenda are expected to include global heating, US-China tensions and the future of Afghanistan.
Leaders did not attend the summit in person last year due to the pandemic.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the UN secretary general António Guterres “will pull no punches in expressing his concern about the state of the world, and he will lay out a vision to bridge the numerous divides that stand in the way of progress.”
Hi, I’m looking after the global coronavirus blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Updated
Thousands of protesters have gathered in Melbourne for a second day, again clashing with police, after authorities announced the forced closure of the construction industry for a fortnight due to ongoing concerns with “poor compliance” with health orders.
The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, said there were 403 direct cases linked to construction across 186 sites with “multiple cases” having seeded to the regions:
The Brazilian president turned down Boris Johnson’s call to “get AstraZeneca vaccines” during a meeting in New York on Monday. The UK prime minister praised the vaccine, saying he had had it twice. In response, Jair Bolsonaro pointed at himself, laughing, and wagged his finger.
“Not yet,” he said via an interpreter. Bolsonaro boasted that he had developed “excellent” immunity to Covid after contracting it:
Overseas New Zealanders trying to return home are facing a queue tens of thousands of people long, as the country reopens bookings to cross the border.
The country’s borders have been strictly controlled since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic – only citizens, permanent residents and a handful of essential workers can enter, and all of them must make a booking to spend two weeks in government-controlled quarantine (MIQ).
Demand for those spaces has vastly outpaced demand, with some hopeful returnees spending weeks refreshing the site, employing “MIQ assistants” or using bots to assist them secure a space:
Covid-19 has now killed as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu pandemic
Covid-19 has now killed as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu pandemic – more than 675,000.
The US population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the Covid-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time.
“Big pockets of American society – and, worse, their leaders – have thrown this away,” said Dr Howard Markel a medical historian at the University of Michigan.
Like the 1918-19 flu, the coronavirus may never entirely disappear from our midst. Instead, scientists hope it becomes a mild seasonal bug as human immunity strengthens through vaccination and repeated infection. That could take time:
US to lift Covid travel ban for vaccinated passengers from UK and most of EU
The US will lift Covid-19 travel restrictions to allow fully vaccinated passengers from the UK and most European Union (EU) countries to travel into the country from early November, the White House has announced.
The move signals the end of a travel ban imposed by Donald Trump more than 18 months ago in the early stages of the pandemic, and comes after intense lobbying from Brussels and London.
In addition to the UK and the 26 Schengen countries in Europe, the easing of restrictions will also apply to Ireland, China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa and India.
It was welcomed by Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, who tweeted: “It’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again.”
British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle said the US announcement “marks a historic moment and one which will provide a huge boost to global Britain as it emerges from this pandemic”.
Shares in US airlines were little changed, while some European carriers gained. British Airways parent IAG SA rose 11.2%, while Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG closed up more than 5%:
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage.
US President Joe Biden’s decision to lift travel restrictions for vaccinated travellers from the UK and most of the EU has been welcomed by the UK and airlines.
The news comes, however, as America’s Covid death toll passes that of the devastating 1918-19 flu pandemic – more than 675,000.
More on these stories shortly. In the meantime, here are the other key recent developments:
- The Dutch government said a vaccine ‘pass’ will be needed to use restaurant toilets.
- The leader of the Scottish Conservative party, Douglas Ross, called on the Scottish government to follow the rest of the UK and relax Covid travel restrictions.
- UK transport secretary Grant Shapps told MPs in parliament that the UK’s successful vaccination programme can be used to “restore lost freedoms”.
- US vet shops reported a shortage of ivermectin despite warnings against using it to treat Covid.
- Construction sites across the Australian state of Victoria are to close for at least two weeks following violence at anti-vaccine protests.
- Pfizer and BioNTech said trial results showed their Covid vaccine is safe and produces a robust immune response in children aged five to 11, adding that they would seek regulatory approval shortly.
