Covid-19 vaccine news LIVE – Boris’ lockdown roadmap will take till JULY before pubs and restaurants are back to normal

‘DATA NOT DATES’

Professor Dame Angela McLean, chief scientific adviser at the Ministry of Defence, has told the Science and Technology Committee the government should focus on “data not dates”.

When asked if the R level needed to be at a certain level before lockdown can be eased, she said: “I think the timing is probably more important, it’s how many of the people who are more at risk of – that’s a mixture of old people or people with underlying conditions – have been vaccinated before we do more unlocking.

“The important issue is to really watch very closely what is happening, so that if infections start to increase and that we do everything we can to decide whether it is a good moment to take another step in unlocking.

“Let’s use data, not dates.”

Referring to the Prime Minister’s comments that unlocking would be “cautious but irreversible”, she added: “I think it has been stated pretty clearly that each step should be irrevocable. That means we have to be extremely careful, before we add another unlocking.”

VACCINE PASSPORTS MIGHT BE NEEDED FOR DYING BUSINESSES

Vaccine passports could be needed to go to the cinema and theatre under plans being pushed by some ministers to help get “dying” businesses open again faster.

Boris Johnson is being urged to reconsider his opposition to issuing jabs certificates, which inoculated people would be able to use to get their lives back to normal.

One senior minister told The Times: “We’re talking about industries that are dying here. In terms of getting live music, theatre, and other parts of the entertainment industry back on their feet, it seems an obvious thing to do once the majority of people have been vaccinated.”

Read the full story here.

COVID CLASH

Dominic Raab and Kate Garraway were engaged in a fiery on-screen clash this morning as the presenter grilled the foreign secretary on “nonsense” quarantine hotels after he called the GMB host “cynical”.

The row erupted when the GMB host said she wanted Raab to “clarify” his response during a heated exchange over the Government’s quarantine hotel policy.

The interruption from the host saw Dominic Raab snap back “Will you let me answer?”

The Foreign Secretary then hit back as he said GMB viewers are fed up with the “media” not allowing politicians to give “honest answers.”

Read more here.

RYANAIR LOSES STATE AID FIGHT

Ryanair on Wednesday lost its fight against state aid granted to virus-hit rivals Air France and SAS via national schemes after Europe’s second-top court backed EU competition regulators who had allowed the support under loosened rules.

“That aid scheme is appropriate for making good the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and does not constitute discrimination,” the Luxembourg-based General Court said, referring to the French scheme.

It said the Swedish scheme was compatible with EU laws.

Europe’s biggest budget carrier has filed 16 lawsuits against the European Commission for allowing state aid to individual airlines such as Lufthansa, KLM, Austrian Airlines and TAP, as well as national schemes that mainly benefit flag carriers.

DAFT AS A BRUSH

Dominic Raab has been mocked by eagle-eyed Sky News viewers who noticed a ‘high security’ method to stop his interview being interrupted.

The Foreign Secretary appeared on Sky News this morning as the government prepares to unveil its roadmap out of Covid lockdown.

But the dad-of-two appeared to have learned the lessons of other presenters and interviewees who have been gatecrashed while appearing on TV during lockdown – propping a broom up against the door.

‘NOT AS SIMPLE AS SANCTIONS’

Britain said it does not shirk its responsibilities in sensitive cases such as the fate of Sheikha Latifa, one of the ruler of Dubai’s daughters, who said in a video that she was being held hostage in a villa.

“It’s not as simple as saying ‘well we could apply sanctions’. There is a very strict legal threshold,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told BBC radio on Wednesday.

“When there’s a human rights issue or a very sensitive case we do not shirk our responsibilities.”

He added: “So for example, on the Magnitsky sanctions, which I introduced, they can be applied, asset freezes, visa bans, where there is evidence of torture, or forced labour, or an extrajudicial killing of some description.

“But it’s not simply the case that we can willy-nilly, if you like, just slap sanctions on individuals.”

‘BLENDED LEARNING’ IN SCOTLAND POSSIBLE

There is “every possibility” that secondary schools in Scotland may have to use blended learning when more youngsters are allowed to return to the classroom, the country’s Education Secretary has said.

John Swinney was speaking after it was confirmed a small number of senior students in Scotland will be able to return to high school from Monday, if they need to do so for practical work.

Children in P1 to P3 and nursery school youngsters are also set to return to class on Monday, on a full-time basis.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday, Mr Swinney said: “The scientific advice I have available to me just now recognises that physical distancing will be required for at least senior phase pupils in our secondary schools.”

Asked about the prospect of blended learning – which would see pupils in class for part of the week and learning remotely for the remainder – he said there is “every possibility, unless that advice changes, that we have to operate on such a model”.

‘AMBITIOUS TESTING TARGETS’

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that ministers had “ambitious targets”, when asked about reports of 400,000 lateral flow tests being posted out to homes per day.

“We have got ambitious targets in relation to testing which we have met at various points, as well as the vaccine rollout,” he told Times Radio Breakfast.

“And we are absolutely doing everything we can to meet those targets. They are obviously designed to be challenging, because we want to get people out of the current lockdown as soon as possible.

“The only way to do that is responsibly, safely – that’s the way we make it sustainable.”

JOBS BOOST

Rishi Sunak wants to coax bosses into a hiring spree with his Budget next month.

He is considering cutting the jobs tax and bringing back a £1,000 bonus for those that unfurlough staff, The Sun can reveal.

The Chancellor hopes he can wean employers off state support as shops, pubs and other businesses gradually reopen.

A source said: “The Treasury is keen to support jobs rather than businesses.”

TESTING PILOTS ‘OF VALUE’

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that testing pilots such as in Liverpool had shown the “value” of coronavirus testing carried out at scale.

When asked about a potential programme of mass testing, he told Sky News: “We learnt previously in places like Liverpool and other areas in the north, the value, particularly when you have got a spike, of testing done at scale and at pace, particularly with the new lateral flow testing.”

Mr Raab said that the vaccine rollout, treatments for coronavirus and carrying out lateral flow testing “at scale, at pace” would be “important” when easing the lockdown.

On lateral flow testing, he added: “So that when you do have upticks of the virus, we can come down on it like a tonne of bricks.

“It’s only one part of the strategic jigsaw, if you like, but make sure we can come down on it like a tonne of bricks.”

‘WE WANT FULL COOPERATION’ FROM CHINA

Britain said on Wednesday that China must cooperate with the World Health Organization review into the origins of the virus which causes COVID-19 so that the world can understand who is responsible.

The United States and Britain have expressed concern over the access given to a WHO mission to China – where the novel coronavirus emerged in late 2019.

“We want to see full cooperation,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told BBC radio.

Raab said that the world needed to know detail of the origins of the outbreak “because then the issue of responsibility can be addressed but also frankly, looking forward, so we can learn the lessons.”

‘NO SINGLE FORMULA’ FOR EASING LOCKDOWN

Steps to ease lockdown measures in England will not depend on any single indicator, such as case numbers, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will publish the path out of lockdown on February 22.

“The number of cases is important, and so is the R level – it is good to see the R level is below 1, there’s pressure on the NHS, there’s the rollout of the vaccine,” he told LBC radio

“There’s no single cast iron formula or one particular indicator above all other considerations that can decide this.” 

NORWAY: CURFEWS SCRAPPED

The Norwegian government is scrapping a plan to introduce legislation permitting the use of curfews in the fight against emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Justice Minister Monica Maeland said on Wednesday.

Draft legislation submitted for a round of hearings last month drew fierce opposition to the measure, including from some of the minority centre-right coalition’s supporters in parliament.

While Norway has one of Europe’s lowest rates of deaths from the novel coronavirus, the initial proposal of curfew legislation was made during a spike of infections at the start of the year.

Infections have since dropped however, as other strict measures such as a temporary closure of shopping centres in the capital region took effect.

“We have not needed this tool so far. That’s still the situation and we hope it will stay that way,” Maeland said in a statement.

BAT PROFITS RISE

British American Tobacco (BAT) has posted higher annual profits despite seeing the pandemic wipe 2.5% off global sales growth.

The Lucky Strike and Camel maker reported a 10% rise in pre-tax profits to £8.7 billion in 2020.

On an underlying basis, pre-tax profits lifted 1% to £10.2 billion.

TEST BLITZ

Boris Johnson is drawing up plans to test more than 400,000 Brits a day in homes and workplaces in a bid to clear a path out of lockdown.

NHS Test and Trace is preparing for nationwide ‘surge’ Covid testing which will see millions of lateral flow tests posted out each week.

The Royal Mail is being geared up for the huge scaling up of deliveries which will see around two-thirds of the population offered repeat rapid tests from next month.

Schoolchildren will be among those offered the 30-minute tests twice a week after returning to class from March 8.

And The Times reports the scheme will be accompanied by a publicity campaign called “Are you ready? Get testing. Go.”

RAAB: ‘WE NEED GLOBAL SOLUTION’

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that “we need a global solution to a global pandemic” when asked about the UK redistributing its vaccine supply to other countries.

“It’s true as well if we have got excess supply, in due course, when we know not just the amount of vaccines we need, but the timing, we would then want to think again whether there is an additional route of support that we might be able to provide,” he told Sky News.

“We are not there yet but we are already stepping up to the plate in the way I described by putting money in and using our convening power to get other countries to match it.

“That is the way we will support the most vulnerable countries, the most vulnerable people, around the world and show that we need a global solution to a global pandemic.”

JAB ROLLOUT

Conflict zones around the world should temporarily pause fighting to enable the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, Dominic Raab has said.

The Foreign Secretary will lead the call for local ceasefires at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

He is expected to warn that allowing Covid-19 to spread in areas without vaccination campaigns will increase the risk of new variants taking hold.

VULNERABLE KIDS

Boris Johnson must show he is serious about vulnerable children by placing them at the heart of his plans to ‘build back better’ post-Covid, England’s children’s commissioner has said.

Anne Longfield will warn that the Prime Minister’s promise to “level up” the country will be “just a slogan” unless children are put at the “centre stage”.

In her final speech in the post, Ms Longfield will call for a new “Covid Covenant” of education and well-being support in every community to help children and young people recover from the pandemic.

‘POVERTY WAGES’

Paying social care workers “poverty wages” is holding back the economy, Labour will warn as it demands the Government raise their salaries to £10 an hour.

Deputy leader Angela Rayner is set to say that giving the frontline workers a pay rise will mean “every extra pound” is spent in local businesses and high streets – and will not be “squirrelled away in an offshore account”.

She will use a speech to the Unison Women’s Conference on Wednesday to say such a rise for social care “heroes” is “well overdue” and the “least that they deserve” after the last year.

DOMINIC RAAB LEADS CALL FOR CEASEFIRES TO VACCINATE WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE

Conflict zones around the world should temporarily pause fighting to enable the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, Dominic Raab has said.

The Foreign Secretary will lead the call for local ceasefires at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

He is expected to warn that allowing Covid-19 to spread in areas without vaccination campaigns will increase the risk of new variants taking hold.

Mr Raab will urge members of the council to agree a resolution for negotiated vaccine ceasefires and help to ensure the most vulnerable people can access jabs.

The Foreign Office said more than 160 million people around the world are at risk of being excluded from vaccines because of instability and conflict, in countries including Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia.

BORIS JOHNSON WARNED AGAINST EASING LOCKDOWN TOO QUICKLY AS NHS TO ‘STAY AT FULL STRETCH’

The NHS is likely to remain “at full stretch” for at least another six weeks, a leading health official said as he warned the Prime Minister against easing lockdown too quickly.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts in England, has written to Boris Johnson calling for a focus on “data, not just dates” when it comes to the Government’s approach to the route out of lockdown.

The Prime Minister will scrutinise data this week on coronavirus case numbers, hospital admissions, deaths and the impact of the vaccine rollout as he prepares his plan to reduce restrictions.

Mr Johnson has said he will aim to give target dates for restrictions being eased when he sets out his plan next Monday, but “won’t hesitate” to delay plans if infection rates make it necessary.

‘ONE IN SIX PEOPLE’ IN ENGLAND COULD BE ON NHS WAITING LIST BY APRIL, THINK TANK STUDY SUGGESTS

One in six people in England could be on the waiting list for NHS treatment by April due to strains on the health service caused by coronavirus, a think tank has warned.

Modelling by researchers at Reform showed that patients waiting a year or more had risen by over 12,000% since the start of the pandemic.

The organisation predicted that waiting lists could hit 10 million by April, equivalent to one in six people in England, as referrals for non-Covid cases begin to resume but limits on NHS capacity remain.

NHS directors say that if the predictions are correct then services will face a “mammoth” task to tackle the backlog.

Reform said “a lack of system resilience” has forced the NHS to become a “national Covid service” and that patients in need of other serious medical treatments would continue to lose out.

CUT VAT ON GREEN HOME UPGRADES, RECYCLED PRODUCTS AND REPAIRS, MPS URGE

VAT should be cut on home energy efficiency projects, repair services and products using recycled materials to boost a green recovery, MPs have urged.

The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) also called for tax incentives to make electric vehicles more affordable as part of efforts to “grow back better” from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Committee chairman Tory MP Philip Dunne said Britain needed a tax system that was fit for the shift to net zero as he urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to use the Budget in March to make changes to drive a greener future.

A report from the EAC said Covid-19 must be treated as a “wake-up call” to the ecological damage humans were causing.

It warned that if the economic recovery from the pandemic is not used to improve the environment, climate change and the collapse in nature may deliver an even greater crisis.

NUMBERS GAME

COVID restrictions in the UK aren’t likely to be lifted significantly until daily cases drop below 1,000, it’s reported.

Boris Johnson is due to unveil a roadmap detailing a path out of lockdown next Monday.

Read more here.

CAPTAIN TOM WANTED TO COME HOME TO STEAK AND CHIPS AFTER COVID TREATMENT

Captain Sir Tom Moore wanted to come home to steak and chips after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus, his daughter has revealed.

Hannah Ingram-Moore has spoken about her father’s days in hospital, their final family holiday to the Caribbean and how his heart would have been “broken” if he had known about trolling the family received.

She told BBC Breakfast: “I said to him in the last few days, “so, what do you want to eat when you come home?”, and we decided it was steak and chips.

“He was really excited about coming out for steak and chips and getting his frame back outside and his walker.

“The last real conversation was positive and about carrying on, and that’s a lovely place to be.”