3.17am EDT
03:17
Labour warn of ‘unintended consequences’ of compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff policy
2.53am EDT
02:53
Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to play in Australian Open, leaked email says
2.46am EDT
02:46
Keir Starmer calls for UK schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
2.39am EDT
02:39
UK health secretary message to anti-vaccine school demonstrators: ‘stay at home’
2.20am EDT
02:20
UK health secretary: ‘leaning towards’ making vaccinations compulsory for NHS staff
1.56am EDT
01:56
Chinese province closes tourist sites amid new Covid outbreak
1.43am EDT
01:43
Scientists attempt to replicate Covid vaccine to end inequity in Africa
3.17am EDT
03:17
Labour warn of ‘unintended consequences’ of compulsory vaccinations for NHS staff policy
In the UK Labour’s shadow education secretary Kate Green has been on Sky News and has been highly critical of the government’s pace of roll-out of vaccination to 12- to 15-year olds.
We’re now going into half-term, we’ve had a promise that all children would be vaccinated by half-term. Turns out we’ve got fewer than one in five who so far have received the vaccine. So it’s absolutely vital that the government now urgently presses on getting those 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated where their parents want them to be.
She also suggested that the Labour party would not back the suggestion that the government is planning to make vaccines mandatory for NHS staff. She said:
If you look at, for example, the situation in Wales, they’re doing well with a persuasion and encouragement model that actually gives access to the vaccine very straightforwardly to those workers.
What we saw in the care sector, when the requirement for care staff to have a jab came in a few weeks ago, was that the sector came under great pressure as staff left who wouldn’t have the jab. That sector and the NHS are already suffering severe staffing pressures.
So I think there is a real downside to the compulsory vaccination route that risks driving much needed care and health workers out of jobs when we we desperately need them to be on the wards and in care homes. It’s a difficult balance, I understand that the health secretary is going to look at it, but I just caution to be very careful about the unintended consequences.
3.02am EDT
03:02
A couple of other bits bobbling around the UK media this morning. Labour leader Keir Starmer was on Good Morning Britain and he backed wearing face masks and was critical of the how the government has let the Covid numbers in the UK ramp up in the last few weeks.
(@Kate_M_Proctor)
Starmer on @GMB says masks are a ‘small measure’ to protect yourself and everybody else. It’s not much to ask.
Says pop-up vax centres need to be re-instated otherwise boosters won’t be rolled out until Spring 2022. PM has ‘taken his eye off the ball’, Starmer says
Prof Jeremy Brown of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has been backing the idea that people in patient-facing roles in the NHS should have mandatory vaccines.
(@tamcohen)
Professor Jeremy Brown of the JCVI says, in his opinion, NHS staff who are not vaccinated “should not be dealing with patients” and should be in a different role.
Says we know infections in hospitals do come from staff as well as patients so it’s “a matter of professional pride”
2.53am EDT
02:53
Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to play in Australian Open, leaked email says
Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to travel to Melbourne and compete at the Australian Open, according to an email sent to WTA players that appears to contradict previous federal and state government advice.
Last week the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, said players who were unvaccinated or would not reveal their vaccine status would not be allowed to enter Australia, placing world No 1 Novak Djokovic in doubt for the January tournament.
Victoria recently introduced a vaccination mandate for all professional athletes, but the WTA Players Council has advised players on the women’s tour that they may be allowed to compete under certain conditions, including quarantining for 14 days, if they are unvaccinated.
The leaked email to players said unvaccinated players would have to quarantine, arrive after 1 December and produce a negative test result within 72 hours of departure to be allowed entry.
It would open the door to players such as Djokovic, who has refused to disclose his vaccination status, to appear at the grand slam at Melbourne Park.
Read more of Mike Hytner’s report here: Unvaccinated tennis players could be allowed to play in Australian Open, leaked email says
2.46am EDT
02:46
Keir Starmer calls for UK schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
Sarah Marsh
Just back on those school anti-vaccine protests for a moment, my colleague Sarah Marsh has this report: Keir Starmer calls for schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) revealed this month that most of the schools surveyed by the union (79%) had been targeted by anti-vaxxers. This had mainly been through emails threatening legal action, but the ASCL said in some cases staff had been threatened with physical harm and some protesters have gained access to school sites.
Starmer said: “It is sickening that anti-vax protesters are spreading dangerous misinformation to children in protests outside of schools. The uptake of vaccines among children is far too low and the government’s rollout is painfully slow. Everything must be done to get those eligible jabbed as quickly as possible in this public health emergency.
“Labour believes the law around public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) urgently needs to be updated so that local authorities can rapidly create exclusion zones for anti-vax protests outside of schools.”
PSPOs can be used to disperse people from a public area and have previously been used to move on protesters outside abortion clinics or to allow police to confiscate alcohol in certain spaces.
But gaining permission to impose one takes significant consultation, and Labour is calling for an expedited process in cases of preventing harassment and intimidation of children outside schools if agreed to by the school, the leader of the local council, and the local police chief constable.
Read more of Sarah Marsh’s report here: Keir Starmer calls for schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
2.43am EDT
02:43
Prof Peter Openshaw, a member of the UK’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), has backed the reintroduction of some preventative measures in England, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning : “I don’t think it’s a binary go for Plan B or nothing, it’s very clear that the measures that are in included in Plan B are sensible and not very disruptive.”
PA Media go on to quote him saying: “It’s not problematic to give clear leadership about the use of face masks, and working at home if you can is also not particularly disruptive for many people. Those measures are likely to lead to a pretty good reduction in the really unacceptable number of cases that we’ve got at the moment.
“To my mind, the introduction of vaccine passports is also fine – it’s been accepted very easily in most other western European countries.
“It’s very sensible, if you were going into a crowded indoor space and knew everyone there had been fully vaccinated and perhaps had had a rapid test on the day, you’d feel much more secure about going into that space.”
“What we’re facing at the moment is unacceptable we’ve got roughly 1 in 55 people infected, which is an astonishingly high rate compared to most other west European countries. This is connected with the lack of clear messaging about sensible measures that we should all be taking in order to reduce the spread of infection.”
Here’s a map indicating the latest caseloads across Europe, which shows the extent to which the UK is an outlier compared to similar countries in the west of the continent.
2.39am EDT
02:39
UK health secretary message to anti-vaccine school demonstrators: ‘stay at home’
UK health secretary Sajid Javid had a strong message on Sky News for “idiot” anti-vaxxers who are spreading what he described as “fully false vicious lies” outside schools. He said “my message to anti-vaxxers is if it’s not for you, then fine, just stay at home, but leave others alone.”
Asked about a reported incident where school children were injured by anti-vaccine protestors outside their school, the health secretary said:
These people are doing so much damage. Here you have three children that are injured, I mean actually physically injured, and that’s heartbreaking to see. Children that are going about what they should be doing, going to school every day, and you’ve got these idiots outside just spreading their vicious lies. It is a problem, and I’ve got to say it’s become a growing problem as time has gone by.
There are options, and in terms of whether it’s an exclusion zone or other potential action, I think it’s got to be done at a local level, which I think is what makes sense for that school and that local area. The home office has taken this very seriously as well, and they’ve been helping with advice to schools as well. We have a unit in the home office that will give advice directly to head teachers about what they can do.
Overnight home secretary Priti Patel has said it is “completely unacceptable” for anti-vaccination campaigners to be harassing members of the public outside school gates. Labour leader Keir Starmer has said it was “sickening” that those against vaccinations were demonstrating at the school gates, and called for councils to be able to use exclusion orders to keep anti-vaxxers from protesting outside schools.
2.30am EDT
02:30
A financial industry group warned today that Hong Kong’s zero-Covid policy and strict quarantine requirements for international travellers threatens to undermine the city’s status as a financial hub.
Reuters report that the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) said a survey of members, including some of the world’s largest banks and asset managers, showed 48% were contemplating moving staff or functions away from Hong Kong due to operational challenges, which included uncertainty regarding when and how travel and quarantine restrictions will be lifted.
Hong Kong has some of the most stringent travel restrictions in the world and is virtually Covid-19 free, however unlike regional rival Singapore, which is slowly re-opening its borders despite currently seeing caseloads higher than at any other time of the pandemic, the Chinese-ruled city has no public plan for opening up to international travellers.
2.20am EDT
02:20
UK health secretary: ‘leaning towards’ making vaccinations compulsory for NHS staff
The UK health secretary Sajid Javid this morning has said that he is “leaning towards” making Covid vaccinations compulsory for NHS staff, as the government has already done for social care staff, a change that comes into effect on 11 November. Asked about NHS staff who are not currently vaccinated he said:
We’ve been very clear about this, there was a consultation on this. We’re yet to make a final decision, but I’m leaning towards doing it. We want to do it properly. We want to work with our friends in the NHS and get this right. But it’s worth just stepping back a bit and saying why is this important. It is because they’re the people that are naturally more vulnerable to being exposed to diseases and viruses and of course that includes Covid, but also the people that they’re looking after are naturally vulnerable, that’s why they’re in hospital, and it’s about giving them the protection they deserve.
Pressed on whether the NHS, which currently has staff shortages, could afford to lose more staff over their vaccine status, Javid told Sky News:
I think that if you keep in mind more than a million people that work in the NHS, so far it’s over I think 94% or 93% thereabouts that are vaccinated, so there is around 100,000 that are not at this point. But what we saw with the care sector, is that when we announced the policy, we saw many more people come forward and do the right thing and get vaccinated, and that’s what I hope that if we do the same thing with the NHS we will see.
Javid refused to put a timeframe on the move.
2.11am EDT
02:11
A quick update on the situation in Poland from Reuters here. Poland’s daily Covid-19 cases are growing at a rate of around 90% compared to the previous week, a deputy health minister said this morning, as the fourth wave of the pandemic gathers pace.
“The results we got on Monday do not reflect what stage of the pandemic we are currently at, they are always lower … but what is more important is this strong uptrend, and at a high level, which is holding, at the moment it is around over 90% compared to last week,” Waldemar Kraska told public broadcaster Polskie Radio 1.
Yesterday the country recorded 4,727 new cases. The rolling seven day average for daily cases is 4,762.
2.07am EDT
02:07
Hi, it is Martin Belam here in London taking over from my colleague Samantha Lock. Currently in the UK the health secretary Sajid Javid is on Sky News as he is doing the media round for the government today. I’ll have the key Covid and healthcare lines from that in due course.
1.56am EDT
01:56
Chinese province closes tourist sites amid new Covid outbreak
A northwestern Chinese province heavily dependent on tourism has closed all tourist sites today after finding new Covid-19 cases, the Associated Press reports.
Gansu province lies along the ancient Silk Road and is famed for the Dunhuang grottoes filled with Buddhist images and other religious sites.
The National Health Commission said 35 new cases of local transmission had been detected over the past 24 hours, four of them in Gansu.
Another 19 cases were found in the Inner Mongolia region, with others spread across several provinces and cities. Residents in parts of Inner Mongolia have been ordered to stay indoors.
Despite having largely stamped out cases of local infection, China maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward the pandemic, characterised by lockdowns, quarantines and compulsory testing for the virus.
The spread of the delta variant by travellers and tour groups is of particular concern ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. Overseas spectators are already banned, and participants will have to stay in a bubble separating them from people outside.
Updated
at 1.57am EDT
1.43am EDT
01:43
Scientists attempt to replicate Covid vaccine to end inequity in Africa
Scientists based in Africa are attempting to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine by replicating Moderna’s Covid-19 shot in a bid to narrow vaccine disparities between the world’s wealthiest and poorest nations.
The work is being backed by the World Health Organization, which is coordinating a vaccine research, training and production hub in South Africa along with a related supply chain for critical raw materials, the Associated Press reports.
“We are doing this for Africa at this moment, and that drives us,” said Emile Hendricks, a 22-year-old biotechnologist for Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, the company trying to reproduce the Moderna shot. “We can no longer rely on these big superpowers to come in and save us.”
Some experts see reverse engineering – recreating vaccines from fragments of publicly available information – as one of the few remaining ways to redress the power imbalances of the pandemic. Only 0.7% of vaccines have gone to low-income countries so far, while nearly half have gone to wealthy countries, according to an analysis by the People’s Vaccine Alliance.
1.33am EDT
01:33
Hi there from sunny Sydney, Australia.
I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest coronavirus coverage for the next hour or so.
If you’re just joining us here’s a quick run down of all the key stories.
In a move towards preparing the nation for winter and a potential surge in Covid cases, ministers in the UK say they want to ramp up the booster jab rollout.
More than 5 million people had had a third jab since the vaccination programme began administering them last month, NHS England said on Sunday.
About 7.5 million people have already been invited by text, email and letter, encouraging them to book through the national booking service. Two million more will receive invitations this week.
British singer Ed Sheeran announced testing positive for Covid-19. In an Instagram post he said: “It means that I’m now unable to plough ahead with any in-person commitments for now, so I’ll be doing as many of my planned interviews/performances I can from my house.” Sheeran will be self isolating and cancelling in-person commitments.
NHS maternity services feared to be near breaking point, the UK’s most senior gynaecologist has warned. The health service could soon be unable to deliver “the care it needs to” for women giving birth if the surge in Covid cases continues, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has said. As Covid cases rise the NHS battles a huge backlog of 5.7 million patients caused by the first and second waves of the virus.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to announce almost GBP6bn to tackle England’s record NHS waiting list. In an effort to get a grip on the crisis, the chancellor will unveil plans for investment in NHS capital funding this week to help deliver about 30% more elective activity by 2024-25 compared to pre-pandemic levels. This is equivalent to millions more checks, scans and procedures for non-emergency patients.
US chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci predicts Covid shots for kids five to 11 will be available by early November. A review panel of the US food and drug administration (FDA) found last week that the benefits of Pfizer-BioNTech shots for the younger age group outweighed the risks.
The UK is lagging behind other G7 countries in sharing surplus Covid vaccines with poorer countries, according to newly published figures. The advocacy organisation One, which is campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030, described it as shaming for the UK government. The figures show that the UK is behind every member of the G7 – of which Britain is currently the chair – except for Japan.
STI rates “at their highest numbers” in the US as Covid dominates health funding. Health officials are concerned about how to divert key resources to combatting a rise in sexually-transmitted infections (STI) that is now continuing despite the social restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic and is now in its sixth consecutive year of increase.
Russia reports 1,000 daily Covid deaths.
UK records nearly 40,000 positive Covid results.
Updated
at 1.35am EDT
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