A person receives a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the Central Middlesex Hospital in London
(REUTERS)
Boris Johnson will this week set out the government’s plans for dealing with the challenges of Covid-19 in the winter months and is expected to repeal specific measures contained in the powers passed by MPs.
In his first coronavirus press conference since lifting the majority of legal restrictions on 19 July, the prime minister is expected to outline a blueprint for “managing” Covid amid fears of a further wave.
It is expected to coincide with a final decision on booster jabs from the Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination (JCVI) after interim advice from the body suggested planning for the most vulnerable to be offered jabs from late September.
Meanwhile, plans for vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds across the UK are to be announced by the government this week, according to reports.
NHS leaders are believed to have been briefed on plans to vaccinate children in a mass inoculation programme beginning in schools on 22 September.
More than 50 per cent of Japan’s population vaccinated
More than half of Japan’s population have been vaccinated against Covid, the government has said.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of Covid measures, told NHK that about 60 per cent of the population is expected to be fully vaccinated by the end of September.
Japan is studying a roadmap for easing restrictions around November, AP reports. That would allow fully vaccinated people and those with negative test results to travel, meet in gatherings or attend mass events.
Leonie Chao-Fong12 September 2021 08:23
UK Covid death toll exceeds 134,000 as hospitalisation numbers rise
More than 134,000 people have died with Covid, according to recent figures released by the government yesterday.
An additional 156 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the coronavirus, taking the number since March last year to 134,144.
Saturday’s daily death toll is 30 per cent more than the 120 recorded the previous week, according to the government’s figures.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 158,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Leonie Chao-Fong12 September 2021 08:14
12-15-year-olds ‘could be jabbed within weeks’
There are reports the government is set to unveil plans imminently to begin vaccinating 12-15 year-olds, with The Observer reporting schools have been warned to begin implementing a programme within weeks and perhaps as soon as 22 September.
NHS leaders are understood to have been briefed on the plans after schools were told to be ready to introduce the programme.
The decision comes as the chief medical officers in the UK are leading a review into whether a mass inoculation campaign would help children’s education; the Joint Council on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) concluded the health benefits of vaccination for younger teenagers were minimal.
Leonie Chao-Fong12 September 2021 07:43
PM to unveil plan for ‘managing’ Covid and ‘challenges’ of winter months
The prime minister is expected to set out the government’s plans for dealing with the challenges of Covid in the winter months and is expected to repeal specific measures contained in the powers passed by MPs.
No 10 said it was difficult to predict with certainty what pressures will be placed on the NHS, with Covid circulating alongside flu, but warned: “The winter months will bring renewed challenges.”
It comes amid reports the government could enforce the mandatory use of masks and once again advise people to work from home under contingency proposals if infections surge in the autumn months.
But the traffic light system governing international travel will be scrapped, reports in the Mail on Sunday suggest, as well as the requirement for Britons returning from overseas to pay for expensive PCR Covid tests.
Leonie Chao-Fong12 September 2021 07:30
