The R rate for coronavirus – which refers to the rate at which the virus spreads – could now be at 1 across England, according to the government’s scientific advisors, who increased their estimates by 0.1 this week in a second successive rise.
Meanwhile, the British Society for Haematology has issued guidance telling doctors to be “on alert” to a rare blood clotting condition, after the MHRA said 30 recipients of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have been affected by it in the UK.
There is not yet any confirmed link between the jab and the blood clotting problem, and with 18 million people having received first doses of the vaccine in the UK, any link would be extremely rare and the vaccine still deemed safe.
And ahead of the Easter weekend, prime minister Boris Johnson has urged the public not to meet indoors, even if they have been vaccinated – “because we’re not yet at that stage”.
“We’re still very much in a world where you can meet friends and family outdoors under the rule of six or two households. And even though your friends and family members may be vaccinated, the vaccines are not giving 100 per cent protection, and that’s why we just need to be cautious.”
It comes amid rebellion from MPs over the potential use of vaccine passports, which have been branded “divisive and discriminatory”.
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