EU approves use of Netherlands factory to produce Astrazeneca vaccine March 26, 2021 The EU medicines regulator has approved the use of a factory in the Netherlands for the production of Covid vaccines for Europe, despite the fact that it is currently being used to make jabs for the UK. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in statement it had cleared the Halix production site in the Netherlands [...]
UK’s Covid alert level downgraded as hospital pressure eases March 25, 2021 The UK’s Covid alert level is set to be downgraded as the number if patients in hospital with coronavirus continues to fall, the head of the NHS has said. NHS England chief Sir Simon Stevens recommended the nation’s coronavirus emergency incident level be lowered from level four to level three, effective from today. It means [...]
Matt Hancock: No guarantee that coronavirus laws will end in six months March 25, 2021 The health secretary has refused to commit to ripping up the Coronavirus Act in six months, telling MPs that emergency Covid laws could stay in place for another year. Speaking at a Commons debate on a potential extension of the legislation, Matt Hancock said: “There are parts of this Act that have allowed us to [...]
Britain most willing nation in the world to get Covid vaccine, survey finds March 25, 2021 People in the UK are the most willing of any nation in the world to get vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a new study. A YouGov poll found that 86 per cent of people in Britain were willing to get a Covid vaccine or had already received one as of 21 March — the highest [...]
Johnson says UK is ‘on the side of openness’ following EU vaccine row March 25, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson today said that Britain is “on the side of openness” and that did he not want to see restrictions on the exchange of Covid-19 vaccines with the European Union. Yesterday the EU tightened its oversight of coronavirus vaccine exports, giving it greater scope to block shipments to countries with higher inoculation [...]
Astra Zeneca revises US vaccine trial results after claims of outdated data March 25, 2021 AstraZeneca has confirmed its Covid-19 vaccine as 76 per cent effective after a new US trial, which showed it to be only three per cent lower than previously reported. US health officials criticised interim data published on Monday, which showed the vaccine efficacy rate to be at 79 per cent, but was not the most [...]
Covid-19, a year on: How Big Pharma reinvented itself March 25, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks back at the last year of the pandemic and Covid restrictions and takes stock of its impact on industries and issues at the heart of British society. Read more: Read the full Covid-19, a year on series here. Six years ago, pharmaceutical chief executive Martin Shkreli drew international condemnation when his [...]
Care home resident to be vaccinated despite son’s objections, judge rules March 24, 2021 An 83-year-old care home resident with dementia should be given a Covid-19 vaccine despite her son’s objections, a judge has ruled. Judge Simon Carr concluded in a hearing at a specialist court that vaccination against coronavirus would be in the woman’s best interests. The court issued a protective order over her identity. The pensioner’s GP [...]
France may be added to UK’s travel ‘red list’, warns Boris Johnson March 24, 2021 Tougher border restrictions with France including adding the country to the UK’s so-called travel red list may be needed “very soon”, the Prime Minister has said. Boris Johnson told MPs that the government “will have to look at” quarantine measures for hauliers coming into the UK from France “just because of the ambiguity about the [...]
EU to impose tougher controls on Covid vaccine exports to the UK March 24, 2021 The EU has updated its vaccine export restrictions to enforce tougher controls on shipments of jabs to the UK, as a bitter dispute over Covid vaccine supplies continues to escalate. The fresh restrictions, which are due to go before EU leaders tomorrow, stop short of a total ban on vaccine exports but are likely to [...]