Vaccine

Pubs Could Be Forced to Reintroduce Social Distancing During ‘Covid Surges’ if They Don’t Check Vaccine Passports

Rather than forcing hospitality venues to check vaccine passports later this year, the Government is considering giving pubs and restaurants a ‘choice’: check the vaccination status of customers or reintroduce social distancing (that is, massively reduce profits) during ‘Covid surges’. The Telegraph has the story.

The idea is being looked at as an alternative to changing the law to mandate vaccine passports – a tougher stance that Boris Johnson warned could be adopted next month.

Under the latest proposal, venues with large indoor crowds would not be forced to adopt vaccine passports but would be offered incentives to adopt them instead.

This could include being able to stay open at full capacity, rather than only being allowed to conduct table service and have no punters at bars, if there is another Covid wave.

One adviser to a Cabinet minister said the idea was being discussed, saying that there was now momentum inside the Government behind some form of Covid certification this autumn.

A similar proposal had been considered by a review led by Michael Gove into Covid certification earlier in the year but was dropped as daily cases fell during the spring. …

But Mark Harper, who leads the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown-sceptic Tory MPs, criticised the Government for considering any form of vaccine passport in a domestic setting.

Mr Harper said: “Given our very high uptake of vaccination, especially among the groups vulnerable to Covid, what problem are these disproportionate ideas trying to solve? 

“I’m surprised the Government is even suggesting it – it’s almost like they don’t believe that our vaccines work. Just the suggestion will damage business confidence.

“The case for vaccine passports is not backed up by evidence from the Government’s own events research programme. Ministers would be wise to drop these threats now and focus on continuing to encourage vaccination through positive public health messages.”

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  8 August 2021 • 22.05
         
25 comments

Universities to Continue Holding Online Lectures and Will Tell Students to Wear Face Masks and to Follow Social Distancing

Many students hoping to begin a normal university term this autumn will be disappointed to find that, while the Covid figures give cause for restrictions to be abandoned, very little will actually change from last year.

Almost all of the leading Russel Group universities have indicated that a proportion of their teaching will continue to be held online while students will still be expected to wear face masks on campuses and to continue social distancing. Not to mention the impending introduction of vaccine passports. The Sunday Times has the story.

The universities’ decision coincides with a clear fall in Covid cases. Even normally cautious scientists, such as Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, said that lockdowns and other restrictive measures were unlikely to be needed again.

Of the leading 24 Russell Group universities, 20 said that a proportion of undergraduate teaching will continue to be held online.

Lord Baker of Dorking, the former Conservative Education Secretary, said the universities stance was “outrageous”, and that they must return to normal as a matter of urgency this autumn. “Pubs, cinemas, theatres and football matches have all opened without restrictions,” he said. “What’s different about universities?”

University College London, the London School of Economics, Imperial College, Cardiff and Leeds all said that lectures would continue to be held online.

Warwick, Nottingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh said they would offer “blended learning” – a mix of online and face-to-face teaching for classes, seminars and lectures – but were unable to guarantee how much in-person teaching students would receive. Nottingham said it hoped to restart full face-to-face teaching next year, “subject to the course of the pandemic”.

Demands that free masks and free PCR tests be handed out to students and used are being led by the Universities and Colleges Union, which is also demanding social distancing on campus and that students get double jabbed. …

Cambridge said most teaching would be in person, but that some would be online, with details to be confirmed. Oxford said it planned most learning in person “enhanced by online teaching” and said some exams would continue to be held online next year.

Students at Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool have already launched petitions calling for a full return to “normality in terms of teaching” and demanding fee refunds. At Manchester, where some of the strictest lockdowns took place, nearly 10,000 have signed. Many students are still waiting to hear details of how their degree courses are to be taught when term starts next month. …

The Department for Education said: “Education providers are able to shape their courses without restrictions on face-to-face provision.”

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  8 August 2021 • 10.34
           
50 comments

University Attempts to Lure Young Into Getting ‘Jabbed’ With £5,000 Prize

The tactics being employed to persuade young Brits to get vaccinated against Covid are being ramped up, much to the joy of – and, at times, thanks to the work of – the Government. The latest effort comes from the University of Sussex, which is offering fully vaccinated students the chance to win a £5,000 prize. BBC News has the story.

All students are being entered into the draw, with 10 winners able to claim a £5,000 prize each, if they can prove they are double-jabbed or exempt. …

Professor Adam Tickell, the Vice-Chancellor at Sussex, said the prize raffle was worth it if the numbers being vaccinated could be boosted even slightly.

“We know take-up among young people is patchy,” he said. “We know they’re not against the vaccine, they’re just not getting round to it.”

He added the financial cost to the university of the scheme was small compared to the human and social cost of potential disruption to students. 

“We know transmission rates are lower with vaccination, and the risk of serious illness for our staff and students is much lower in people who’ve been vaccinated.”

Vaccination remains voluntary for students, and there has been growing concern about the relatively low take-up by young adults. …

The university says its scheme is designed to provide an incentive for students to have both doses. …

Professor Tickell got the idea after hearing on a BBC programme that universities in the U.S. were offering incentives for vaccination. …

Universities Minister Michelle Donelan said: “Vaccines are the surest way to put Covid behind us and for students to reclaim the freedoms that enrich university life. 

“The department is encouraging universities to look at creative ways to boost uptake, and to discuss the possibility of pop-up centres with local health partners – making it quick and easy for students to grab a jab.” 

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  7 August 2021 • 18.40
       
51 comments

The Covid Witch-Hunts

We’re publishing an original article today by Dr Sinéad Murphy, a Research Associate in Philosophy at Newcastle University, about the parallels between the witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries and the move today to discriminate against those who have not been vaccinated against Covid. She begins by denouncing the introduction of vaccine passports in the Republic of Ireland.

In the Republic of Ireland as of July 26th, only those who have accepted two jabs are allowed to go inside the pub – that den of such life and good cheer that there is an Irish Pub to be found in the remotest corners of the globe.

On va à l’Irish? a French friend of mine used to say to his college mates, when they had a free afternoon in Poitiers.

Can this really be happening? Can the people of my native land really be refusing entry at pub doors to friends and neighbours who have not agreed to receive a particular medical treatment? I’ve been gone for over a decade – have things really changed that much?

What of the good-humoured scepticism that used to mitigate every piece of Irish officialdom? I know someone who lost his Irish passport while living and working illegally in the U.S., and who managed to have it replaced via a network of ex-patriots in the police and the passport office there. Years ago, I was stopped by the Gardai for exceeding the speed limit on a stretch of road approaching Cork city – “You were travelling quickly there, do you know that?” asked the garda. “God, I’m sorry,” I said. “Watch yourself next time, girl,” he said. That was it.

And what of the courage that used to lie beneath these soft to-and-fros of Irish life? …

The two have gone hand-in-hand – the courage and the craic, the friendliness and the fight. A verve for life and for people and for talk will tend to draw a person into whatever news is abroad and whatever struggle is afoot.

But now they’ve disappeared hand-in-hand, it looks like. Irish men and women sit well apart from other Irish men and women because their Government has ruled that they must or because they’re afraid of getting sick, or both.

The words of W.B. Yeats resound in my despondency: “Was it for this the wild geese spread? For this that all the blood was shed?”

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  7 August 2021 • 16.30
       
36 comments

JCVI Remains Opposed to Vaccination of Younger Teenagers

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) may have changed its mind on the vaccination of healthy 16 and 17 year-olds but reports suggest that it remains largely opposed to the vaccination of non-clinically vulnerable younger teenagers and children. The Guardian has the story.

Several members of the JCVI said the mainstream sentiment on the body is still extremely cautious about expanding the programme to 12 to 15 year-olds, even though a Deputy Chief Medical Officer has suggested that outcome is high [sic] probable and politicians have said they would like the issue to remain under review.

The JCVI recommended on Wednesday that all over-16s be offered jabs, just two weeks after saying children should not routinely be given Covid vaccinations. The U-turn provoked alarm at what was described as a “shambolic” vaccine roll-out for older teenagers, with doctors saying they were being “left in the dark” about the details of the roll-out to younger people.

The JCVI has moved to “refresh” the membership of its Covid subcommittee in recent weeks, with one prominent critic of Covid jabs for children, Professor Robert Dingwall, leaving the body.

Dingwall and others on the committee said his views were not the reason for the shake-up, and that sentiment on the body is still that the risks outweigh the benefits for 12 to 15 year-olds. …

Jonathan Van-Tam, a Deputy Chief Medical Officer, has said it was “more likely than less likely” that the list of eligible children would be broadened.

However, one expert who remains a member of the JCVI said the overriding opinion of the body was still against expanding vaccinations to 12 to 15 year-olds and argued that the committee was more likely to recommend removing categories of vulnerable children who are currently offered vaccines.

Committee members said they had not felt political pressure to change their views when it came to changing its advice on 16 and 17 year-olds. However, two members on the committee said there had been a fear that Scotland could go its own way on vaccinating older teenagers, even though the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has consistently said her Government will follow JCVI advice.

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  7 August 2021 • 11.40
     
42 comments

Northern Ireland Begins Vaccinating Healthy 16 and 17 Year-Olds Against Covid

Just two days after England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer said all 16 and 17 year-olds will start being invited to get vaccinated against Covid “in a very short number of weeks”, Northern Ireland has become the first U.K. nation to extend its vaccine roll-out to healthy children. BBC News has the story.

The move follows a recommendation by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

More than 180 vaccinations were administered to 16 and 17 year-olds at the SSE arena in Belfast on Friday morning.

Confirming the number, Lead Nurse at the regional vaccination centre Pauline Wilson said there was a sense of excitement among young people in line for their jab.

“The general feedback is that they’re pleased to be here and they’re looking forward to things opening up again,” she said.

“It’s their turn and they are keen to get their vaccinations.” …

Regional vaccination centres in Northern Ireland are providing a walk-in service for first doses of Pfizer vaccines for those aged 16 and 17.

For those who prefer to book, an online booking platform will be available in the coming days.

The first vaccination will also be available at pop-up walk-in clinics across Northern Ireland.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: Young people are “excited” to get ‘jabbed’, according to the Evening Standard.

Elliot Aston, from Newtownards, Co Down, said he was “quite excited” to have received his first jab.

“It’s good that they’re finally offering it to us because we are probably the ones that are out and about the most so I think it’s about time,” he said.

“I have an introduction day back to school coming up so I’ll definitely feel safer now around my friends.

“Some of my friends were here today getting it too.” …

Georgia Johnston, from Carrickfergus, admitted she had worries about getting the vaccine, but after some thought decided she would.

“I was completely against it but decided I have to get it so I came up and got it,” she said.

“My mum persuaded me, she got her vaccine.”

Also worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  6 August 2021 • 18.28
     
56 comments

Get ‘Jabbed’ or “Miss Out on the Good Times”, Government Tells Young in Latest Ad Campaign

If you don’t get vaccinated against Covid, you won’t be able to enjoy your life, young people are told in the latest Government ad campaign which will be shown on billboards, on television and on social media platforms. In a nod to the introduction of vaccine passports at nightclubs and other “large venues” later this year, the ad tells young Brits: “Don’t miss out on going clubbing” by not getting ‘jabbed’.

“It’s easy to get yours done quickly,” the ad says, “so you don’t miss out on anything.” The Times has more.

Boris Johnson is said to have been “raging” about relatively low youth uptake and had to be talked out of requiring vaccination for students returning to university in the autumn.

He has said proof of vaccination will be required for nightclubs from September, with officials suggesting this will probably be widened to other mass events. Although there is scepticism about whether the policy will ever be introduced, given opposition from Tory backbenchers, ministers are seeking to drive home the message that jabs will be required for many leisure activities.

Past efforts appear to have failed. Yesterday 33,334 people were vaccinated and the seven-day average is down to 32,550 daily doses, a fall of 85% since June. …

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, warned that proof of vaccination was likely to be a feature of international travel “for evermore” as most countries would demand it as a condition of entry. “It’s important to understand that there are simply going to be things that you will not be able to do unless you’re double-vaccinated or have a medical reason not to be, including going abroad,” he told LBC. “So actually there are good reasons if you’re perhaps in your twenties and you feel like, ‘Oh, this doesn’t really affect me’. Well, it is going to because you won’t be able to leave the country.”

Vaccination rates in the young are starting to plateau, with 68% of those aged 18 to 24 and 71% of those aged 25 to 29 having had a first jab, compared with at least 95% in the over-50s. …

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, told young people to be vaccinated “to make sure you can return to creating those special moments”.

DJs and nightclubs have been recruited to the campaign, with the NHS holding a pop-up jab unit in the London nightclub Heaven. The Gateways music festival in Skipton, North Yorkshire, and Birmingham New Street station will also host walk-in centres this weekend. …

Campaign images include young people frolicking on a beach under the slogan “don’t miss out on going travelling”, a music festival with the warning “don’t miss out on the big events” and a packed dancefloor with the legend “don’t miss out on going clubbing”.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: You can see more of the posters that make up the Government’s “Don’t Miss Out” campaign here.

By Michael Curzon  /  6 August 2021 • 11.49
       
175 comments

Needing to Be Vaccinated Against Covid to Travel Abroad “A Reality in This New World”, Says Grant Shapps

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has doubled down on his claim that Brits must get vaccinated against Covid “if they want to travel internationally again”. On Thursday, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that needing proof of vaccination to travel abroad “is a reality… in this new world”.

He said that “double vaccination” will be “a feature for evermore”, but seemed to correct himself by following the words “double vaccination” with “full vaccination”. Is this a hint that the ability to travel abroad will, further down the line, be contingent on booster shots too? The Guardian has more.

Grant Shapps predicted people would be required to prove they had been fully vaccinated for some time to come, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is a reality that in this new world, we’re living with coronavirus… I think double vaccination or full vaccination is going to be a feature for evermore, and probably all countries will require full vaccination for you to enter.”

He said in an ideal world ministers would not have to impose quarantine restrictions or demand people pay money for multiple, expensive tests, but said the current system was likely to remain in place after summer.

That was because the threat of vaccine escape – meaning a variant emerging that current vaccines are less effective against – was the big worry on ministers’ minds, Shapps said.

“It would be irresponsible for us not, therefore, to be testing people when they do travel before they leave and when they get back – that’s how you can guard against the next big variant that none of us know about yet,” he said.

“So I think we’ll have to settle down into knowing that this will happen, but as the world opens up and international rules are adopted for travel, which will certainly include full vaccination, I think things will will start to become more routine for people who travel.”

Shapps said quarantine restrictions did not block the importation of variants completely, but said slowing down their arrival was helpful. …

Shapps defended having singled out France as the only Amber List country where travellers still had to quarantine for up to 10 days regardless of whether they had been fully vaccinated, after the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, had suggested it was partly due to the number of cases of the Beta variant in Réunion, a French overseas territory, thousands of miles away from mainland France.

He said there were “very close links” between Réunion and France, meaning high levels of the Beta variant on the island in the Indian Ocean had spilled over into the mainland’s north, but that these had since “descended”.

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  5 August 2021 • 12.59
       
183 comments

Covid Vaccine Could Become Mandatory for Troops in U.S. Military

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to recommend that vaccination against Covid should be mandated for all 1.3 million active-duty military troops, with the final decision lying with President Joe Biden. The shift in position is believed to have occurred because of fears over the Delta variant. The New York Times has the story.

Biden announced last week that all federal employees and on-site contractors must be vaccinated against Covid, or be required to submit to regular testing and other measures. The requirement extended to the 766,372 civilians working for the Defense Department, but not active-duty service members.

That could soon change, administration and military officials said on Tuesday. Austin, who recently returned to the United States from a trip to Asia, has asked the military services to report on how and when they would go about putting a mandate in place. Mr Austin has previously said that he would not be comfortable with a mandate until the vaccines are fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but officials and executives across the board are rethinking their position as the Delta variant surges.

The FDA plans to fully approve the Pfizer Covid vaccine, one of the most widely used vaccinations, by early next month, people familiar with the effort have said. The move will lead to more vaccination mandates across the country, but officials say Mr Austin is not expected to wait for final approval before making his recommendation. …

About 64% of active-duty military members are fully vaccinated, above the 60% of Americans over 18 who are fully vaccinated. But for the military, the rate is unacceptably low, raising issues of readiness should cases rise among service members. It is also difficult to deploy troops who have not been vaccinated to countries with stringent local restrictions.

Beyond readiness, a big part of the push for a mandate for the military centers on the belief that service members could set an example for their families and friends in states where vaccine hesitancy has been higher.

“When people see that these guys got the vaccine and nothing happened to them, that could be decisive,” said Dr Ezekiel J Emanuel, a Bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who advised Mr Biden during his transition.

“People admire our military,” he said. “They can serve as a positive example.”

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  5 August 2021 • 11.27
           
76 comments

16 and 17 Year-Olds Will Be Able to Get Covid Vaccine Without Parental Consent

Some U.K. vaccination clinics have been giving 16 and 17 year-olds a Covid ‘jab’ in recent weeks, provided they were accompanied by a parent or guardian, but it is now understood that children in this age bracket will not require parental consent when the vaccine roll-out is extended in the coming weeks. MailOnline has the story.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended the 1.4 million youngsters should be offered Pfizer jabs, marking a dramatic U-turn on guidance the same panel issued two weeks ago.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the NHS would dish out invites “as soon as possible”, with the goal of getting the oldest teenagers protected before they return to classrooms in September.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said there was “no time to waste”.

He also laid the groundwork for ministers to expand the inoculation drive to all over-12s in the near future, saying that the JCVI would “continually review” the evidence. …

Pfizer’s vaccine has been linked to a rare side effect called myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle. Data from the U.S., which has been giving the jab to children for months, shows the complication affects one in 100,000 teenage boys after the first dose, but this rises to about one in 15,000 after the second dose.

Officials close to the programme said a child would be able to give consent for the jab if they were able to understand the risks and benefits of any medical treatment. …

Boris Johnson today called on families to listen to the advice from No 10’s top scientists, saying that the committee was “among the best in the world” and that the country should “take our lead from them”.

Professor Van-Tam… told a Downing Street press conference today that the first inoculations for 16 and 17 year-olds would be given “in a very short number of weeks”.

He said: “Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixths forms from September, and in Scotland that will be slightly earlier, so there is no time to waste in getting on with this.” …

More than eight in 10 Britons… support the move, polling suggests, including more than 50% of people who strongly support offering jabs to the younger age groups.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: According to the ONS, nearly 80% of 16-24 year-olds have Covid antibodies. Why, then, do 16 and 17 year-olds need to be double jabbed? MailOnline has more.

By Michael Curzon  /  4 August 2021 • 18.46
     
113 comments