Great encouragement

The Queen has said that having a COVID-19 vaccine "didn't hurt at all" as she encouraged those who are hesitant about getting jabbed to "think about other people rather than themselves". Her Majesty, who never talks about her own private health matters in public, endorsed the importance of the vaccination programme during a video call to those coordinating the operations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Talking about her own experience of having the COVID jab in January, the Queen said: "Once you've had the vaccine you have a feeling of, you know, you're protected, which is I think very important. "As far as I could make out it was quite harmless. It was very quick, and I've had lots of letters from people who have been very surprised by how easy it was to get the vaccine. And the jab - it didn't hurt at all." Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world Advertisement The Queen has spoken to health … [Read more...] about COVID-19: ‘Think about other people’: Queen speaks out on vaccine hesitancy

Teachers and other key workers are not set to be prioritised in the final stage of the UK's Covid vaccine rollout, official advisors have revealed. The vaccine authority today confirmed its priority advice for giving jabs to 21million healthy UK adults under 50, starting in mid-April. It had been hoped ministers would put teachers at the front of the queue in the second phase - once all over-50s and at-risk groups had been offered a first dose. But it's now understood the government will obey advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) - which today said jabs should go by age instead. In a TV press conference, the JCVI announced there should be three priority groups in Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout - people aged 40 to 49, aged 30 to 39 and aged 18 to 29. That means there will be no special priority given either to teachers, police and other key professions, or to other people at higher risk factors due to being male, overweight, or from an ethnic … [Read more...] about New Covid vaccine priority list revealed for rest of UK – as teachers aren’t bumped up

A fitness-mad mum transformed her dusty garage into a luxury home gym thanks to a £13,000 holiday refund. Catherine Pearson, 46, was determined to keep up her strict daily workout regime through lockdown despite gyms being forced to close across the country. The mum of three started using kettlebells in the dusty double garage of her home in Hartford, Cheshire, but soon became tired of how limited the space was. But after receiving £13,000 worth of refunds in cancelled holidays after Covid put pay to her Tenerife and Greece getaway plans, the sales and marketing director decided to splash the money on a fully kitted out luxury gym. She said: "The gym was really borne out of lockdown. "I felt like if I couldn't getaway physically, I knew I would need something to help me escape mentally. "It's been amazing having it done, I'm a mum of three boys and I'm the director of a company so my life is pretty hectic but now I can just go to the garage and do a full workout on my … [Read more...] about Fitness-mad mum transforms dusty garage into luxury gym thanks to £13k holiday refund

Some people can’t be helped, or don’t want to be helped. Offered a Covid jab, many thousands reject the vaccination that saves lives. Theirs, their loved ones and the rest of us. We rely on each other to “do the right thing”. So should the jab be mandatory? This is not, generally speaking, a nation that lives by compulsion. Inoculation against the viral killer is voluntary – up to now. But should those working at close quarters with the public, in hospitals, care homes, even buses and trains, be obliged to take the protection they’re offered? It is already compulsory among senior medical staff in the NHS. Boris Johnson says the Government is reviewing “the whole issue”, including vax-passports for public events. Individual freedom is important, but it’s not absolute. Why should there be unfettered freedom to infect others with a virus that has taken the lives of 120,000 people in the UK? There needs to be some hard thinking here. It cannot be right for workers, … [Read more...] about ‘Freedom to refuse a Covid-19 vaccination is dead wrong if it endangers others’

One of the private firms running the troubled test and trace system has been slated for giving £17million to shareholders. Serco, which has a history of blunders with public service contracts, has already raked in £350m in fees for its part in running the botched scheme. Criticism includes its rotten record on tracking down people who have been in contact with those infected with coronavirus . The firm’s boss, Rupert Soames, has insisted it is having “remarkable success” and defended the windfall for shareholders. But Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said: “It will outrage taxpayers that their money – meant to fund a contact tracing system which has never been up to scratch – is instead being paid to Serco shareholders via dividends. Are you signed up to our newsletter? You can sign up here to get the day's biggest stories straight to your inbox “It’s typical of this government’s appalling waste during this pandemic. They should have done with … [Read more...] about All of Serco’s contracts and blunders as shareholders get £17million payday