National security studies masters

A large, real world study involving half a million people has revealed that the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is 94% effective. The paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday and involved studying 1.2 million people during Israel's mass inoculation campaign . What did the study reveal? The study showed that two shots of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine cut symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 94% across all age groups, while a single shot was 57% effective in protecting against symptomatic infections after two weeks. The vaccine also proved 92% effective at preventing severe illnesses after two shots and 62% after one, the peer-reviewed study found. The results of the study were close to those in last year's clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which found two doses to be 95% effective. It showed that there could be a strong protective benefit against infection, a factor that is considered crucial in breaking onward transmission. … [Read more...] about Coronavirus: Mass study confirms BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine ‘extremely effective’

The Chancellor is reportedly planning to extend the stamp duty holiday by another three months in a boost to buyers. The Treasury announced last year that it would temporarily raise the stamp duty threshold from £125,000 to £500,000 for property sales in England and Northern Ireland. But many people have been left scrambling to complete their transactions with just five weeks to go until the March 31 deadline, worried that if they do not, they could be left with a £15,000 tax bill. There have been concerns that some buyers may pull out if they do not meet the deadline. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will use his Budget next week to move the deadline to the end of June, reports The Times . If the Government decides to extend the deadline by six weeks, between 120,000 and 160,000 additional property transactions in England could potentially benefit from the tax saving, according to property website Rightmove's estimates. A recent report by the right-leaning Centre for Policy … [Read more...] about Stamp duty holiday ‘to be extended’ as Rishi Sunak considers moving deadline to June

Leaders from across the 27-nation bloc convened via videoconference on Thursday to thrash out joint approaches to the COVID-19 crisis. The topics of discussion included unilateral border closures and restrictions , the slowness of the EU's vaccine rollout and the thorny issue of so-called vaccine passports . The issues discussed Vaccine passports: Tourist-reliant southern European nations such as Greece and Spain urged the rapid adoption of an EU-wide vaccination certificate for travelers. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz backed the idea in an appearance on the online television channel of Germany's Bild newspaper. He said it would enable a restart to free travel in Europe and could help "secure and protect" struggling sectors like the arts, sports and gastronomy. Manfred Weber, the head of the conservative bloc in the European Parliament, has called for a speedy rollout of a vaccine passport in order to allow freedom of movement in the EU. "[A] vaccination … [Read more...] about Coronavirus: EU leaders consider vaccine passports

Rishi Sunak is expected to confirm a fourth Covid support grant for self-employed workers next week, as he delivers the biggest Budget since the Covid crisis emerged. Amongst stamp duty, the £20 Universal Credit uplift, new minimum wage rates and an update on the future of furlough, the Chancellor is set to deliver news on the next self-employed support grant. But the fourth payment in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) could prove the last as it may be scrapped by May. The final scheme will be worth up to £7,500 and cover February, March and April, according to The Telegraph . Workers who meet the criteria will be able to claim 80% of their average profits over three months capped at £2,500, and paid as a single lumpsum. But the scheme could either be scrapped or capped at 20% of profits from May when lockdown restrictions are expected to lift and businesses could reopen. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the … [Read more...] about Will there be a fourth SEISS grant? Latest news on self-employed support scheme

The UK's COVID-19 alert level has been downgraded, with the threat of the NHS being overwhelmed receding. The UK's chief medical officers say the alert level should move from 5 to 4 as the numbers of patients in hospital are "consistently declining and the threat of the NHS and other health services being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded". Level 4 means transmission of COVID-19 is now "high or rising exponentially" compared with level 5 where there was "a risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed". What is the UK's 'COVID alert level' and what does it mean? The UK has been on level 5 since the beginning of January when it was moved from level 4 as it went back into lockdown after Christmas. In a joint statement, the four UK chief medical officers and NHS England's national medical director said they agreed the level should be downgraded following advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre "and in light of the most recent data". … [Read more...] about COVID-19: UK alert level downgraded as threat of NHS being overwhelmed recedes