Vaccine

Healthy teenagers aged 16 and 17 will be offered the Pfizer vaccine within weeks and will be able to overrule their parents to get vaccinated, after a rethink by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Speaking at a Downing Street press briefing, Professor Jonathan Van Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, said there was “no time to waste” in rolling out the jabs to teenagers, and said he would be happy to have his own children vaccinated. “I want us to proceed as fast as practically possible,” he said. “The NHS has been kept informed of what has been deliberated by JCVI and it has been preparing multiple permutations and options for many weeks now, and I would expect this programme to begin in a very short number of weeks.” Less than three weeks ago, the committee said that the benefits did not outweigh the risks for youngsters, ruling out the “routine use of universal vaccination of children”. But on Wednesday, the JCVI said it had gathered more data …

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Jonathan Van-Tam urges haste in vaccinating 16-17-year-olds Sign up to receive our rundown of the day's top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info According to the latest Government statistics, the new figure is up from 21,681 a day earlier. The daily death figure was 119, which is lower than the 138 reported on Tuesday, according to data. Related articles Pfizer Covid vaccine: Four new suspected side effects Alarming X-rays reveal damage COVID-19 causes to unvaccinated lungs This brings the overall death toll to 130,000. The data also found that 46.9 million people have had their first dose of a vaccine and 38.7 million have been fully jabbed. These latest figures come …

[Read more...] about UK Covid cases spike after new vaccine plea as nation records grim death milestone

Rishi Sunak says UK economy is ‘better’ than international peers Sign up to receive our rundown of the day's top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The biggest economies in Europe were brought to a stand still last year, and intermittent lockdown measures have taken their toll. But as the vaccine rollout in the UK accelerates, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said recently that there is "light at the end of the tunnel". The EU 's rollout has been hit with delay, and Chief Economist at Resolution Foundation, Jack Leslie, tells Express.co.uk that the UK economy is set to enjoy a quicker recovery than the eurozone. He said that this recovery will be sharper because of the successful distribution …

[Read more...] about UK economy boom: Britain ‘will recover quicker than the eurozone’ amid vaccine feud

PMQs: Johnson says UK ‘must be vigilant’ for pension scams Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter for FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Vaccines have been issued to nearly 30 million people according to the Government's latest data and as it stands, there are three approved vaccines in use by the NHS. Unfortunately, those who have received the Pfizer/BioNTech will need to be wary moving forward. Related articles HMRC phone scam attempts - Britons warned hang up straight away Martin Lewis warns Lifetime ISA withdrawals must be made ASAP READ MORE Tax refund: Couples urged to see if they can claim Marriage Allowance According to Cifas, the UK’s …

[Read more...] about Vaccine warning: have you received the Pfizer jab? Watch out for a scam survey email

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on Wednesday for a moratorium on booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines so that those vaccines can be made available to countries that have only been able to inoculate a small proportion of their population. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that although "hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses" — a dose to be administered after a full vaccination course. Several countries including France, Germany, and Israel have started administering booster doses. Britain and the US are reportedly considering it as well. "I understand the concern of all governments to protect their own people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world's most vulnerable remain protected," he added. Dr. Tedros also stressed that of …

[Read more...] about WHO calls for COVID booster jab moratorium to accelerate vaccination in poorer countries

Professor Sarah Gilbert, who led the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine development, has been honoured a Barbie in her likeness. The doll is meant to celebrate her achievement during the pandemic and inspire kids around the world to start a career in science or medicine. The COVID-19 vaccine she helped create is the most widely used around the world and has protected hundreds of millions of people. Even though Professor Gilbert is amused by the idea of having a Barbie made in her likeness, she hopes the doll will have a positive impact on kids and inspire them to become scientists themselves. "It's a very strange concept to have a Barbie doll created in my likeness. I hope it will be part of making it more normal for girls to think about careers in science, although, to be honest, when I was a young girl I never believed that I wouldn't have a career in science," Dame Sarah Gilbert said. The American toy company is also honouring five other women who have been pioneers …

[Read more...] about Life in plastic, it’s fantastic! COVID vaccine scientist gets Barbie

Covid vaccines are expected to be offered to children in the UK aged 16 and 17, in line with many other countries. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are set to approve the jab for teens over 15, meaning that children in England will be vaccinated in time for their return to schools in September. The teen vaccine rollout will likely happen in late August and should affect roughly 1.5 million youngsters. But what are the risks involved with child vaccinations and what side effects should be expected? Find out everything here: What COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children? The vaccine rollout could be expanded to children aged 16 and 17 in time for September term ( Image: Getty Images) The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine that has been authorised for children in the UK, for those aged 12 or older. Approval of the Pfizer vaccine followed a US clinical trial in around 1,000 children aged 12 to 15 that found side …

[Read more...] about Is the Pfizer vaccine safe for children? Everything you need to know

Fully vaccinated people have just a one in 26 chance of picking up coronavirus if they come into contact with an infected individual, a study has shown. Latest figures from Imperial College’s React-1 survey found that full vaccination halves the risk of getting an infection, compared to a one in 13 chance for unvaccinated people. Analysis by Imperial also suggests double jabbed people are less likely to pass on the virus to others, and if they do catch Covid, their condition will be milder. The study found that it took more rounds of PCR testing to detect coronavirus in vaccinated people than unvaccinated individuals – 27 cycles versus 23 – suggesting that there was less virus present in the fully jabbed. Testing of 98,000 people found that unvaccinated people were three times more likely than fully vaccinated people to test positive, with a prevalence of 1.21 per cent of those swabbed suffering an infection compared to 0.4 per cent of the double-jabbed. After adjusting for …

[Read more...] about Fully vaccinated people have just one in 26 chance of catching Covid from infected contact

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is set to recommend that all 16 and 17 year olds be offered a Covid vaccine , adding to all over-18s, previously. Up to now, over-12s could be vaccinated, but the vaccine was offered only to those with underlying conditions or who lived with others at high risk. Extending the universal vaccination offer to all those over 16 brings the UK closer into line with a number of other countries, internationally, though a few (including the US, France and Canada) already routinely vaccinated all those over 12. The vaccines appear to be very safe, and JCVI is clearly convinced that there are no special issues yet to be resolved about the risks for older teens. And some parents have been very keen to get their children vaccinated. There appears to be no good reason to prevent them from doing so. The benefits to the children themselves are of course likely to be very small. Children face very low risk from contracting the virus, …

[Read more...] about Offering vaccines to 16-year-olds should mark the end of Britain’s coronavirus epidemic

Florida Senator Marco Rubio delivered a simple message on Twitter Wednesday: "Stop with the mask fetish." The Republican lawmaker instead had another suggestion for fighting back against the latest surge of COVID-19 cases in his state. "You're not going to mask your way out of this pandemic," he said during a video within the tweet. "The answer here is vaccines." Florida currently leads the nation in new COVID-19 cases, as well as COVID-related hospitalizations. Many of the new infections come from the highly contagious Delta variant. During the minute-and-a-half-long video, Rubio also chastised the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ). He said the agency is too concerned with "'Who are we going to strap masks on now? How are we going to force masks on people?'" The CDC has recently said that even fully vaccinated people should wear masks when indoors amongst people from outside their household. The health organization's data indicates that while …

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