AstraZeneca backs its Covid-19 shot as nations battle new surges

Vaccination programmes are being ramped up around the world, including with the shot developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford

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  • Science has proved Boris Johnson wrong – vaccines are reducing deaths and cases

    Boris Johnson raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he suggested that the reduction in Covid infections, hospital admissions and deaths had not been achieved by the vaccination programme, with the lockdown doing "the bulk of the work". Thankfully, less than 24 hours later, science had proved the Prime Minister wrong. New research from NHS England and the University of Manchester showed the stark difference in cases, admissions and deaths for elderly people who had been vaccinated compared to those who had not. In a large study involving more than 170,000 people, researchers had scrupulously case-matched participants to make sure the results were not skewed by underlying conditions, sex or geographical location. The results show that far from having little impact, the rate of Covid-related hospital admissions fell by 75 per cent in vaccinated 80 to 83-year-olds within 35 to 41 days of their first dose of the Pfizer jab. The rate of people getting Covid dropped by 70 per cent, with the number of positive tests falling from 15.3 per 100,000 people to 4.6. The authors conclude: "The nationwide vaccination of older adults in England with the [Pfizer] vaccine reduced the burden of Covid-19."

  • CEO who Fox News called 'socialist' for $70k minimum wage says company is now worth $10billion

    The company’s revenue has tripled since the change was implemented

  • Nicola Sturgeon accused of attempting to 'dupe' voters over drive for independence

    Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of attempting to “dupe” voters over her drive for independence after the SNP scrapped plans to include a reference to a second referendum on ballot papers. The SNP had sought approval for two slogans making reference to “IndyRef2” to appear alongside the party name on voting slips for the Holyrood election, suggesting that Ms Sturgeon planned to make her push for a new referendum the central message of her election campaign. However, when the first postal ballots arrived on Wednesday, the IndyRef2 references had been dumped and replaced with “Nicola Sturgeon for SNP First Minister”. The Scottish Tories said the move to abandon the IndyRef2 description was a tacit admission that the SNP's independence policy is a turn-off for voters and amounted to an attempt to hide it from the public. Ms Sturgeon will on Thursday unveil the SNP manifesto, which will include a commitment to holding another referendum on independence if there is a pro-independence majority at Holyrood after May’s election. However, in a major announcement ahead of the launch event, the party chose to highlight a commitment to boost NHS spending by £2.5 billion within five years rather than focus on the constitution. The commitment came after the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that health spending in England has increased more than three times faster than in Scotland over the past decade.

  • Covid vaccine mixing: How does it work and why is the UK expanding trial?

    UK ‘mix and match’ study aims to find out how vaccines can be used more flexibly

  • ITV weather presenter’s ex-husband jailed after nine-year campaign of control, harassment and stalking

    The ex-husband of an ITV weather presenter has been jailed after a nine-year campaign of controlling behaviour, harassment and stalking against her during their marriage. Jonathan Wignall, 54, set alerts for Ruth Dodsworth’s television appearances, used her fingerprint to access her phone while she was asleep, and fitted a tracking device to her car. On Wednesday a court heard Wignall was an “unrepentant, possessive bully” with a “fragile ego” who repeatedly accused Ms Dodsworth, 45, of being unfaithful.

  • Medics’ anger as Delhi orders most beds in private hospitals be reserved for Covid cases

    Medics’ anger as Delhi orders most beds in private hospitals be reserved for Covid casesDoctors say ‘absurd’ move, made as second wave surges, is unfair on non-Covid patients Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage Medical staff in PPE coveralls attend to patients in the Shehnai Banquet Hall Covid-19 care centre . As cases surge, the government has begun setting up facilities for Covid patients at alternative places. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

  • Butcher overturns £20,000 in parking fines after proving yellow lines were in wrong place

    Gareth Sell, 36, won a two-year battle to overturn more than 50 tickets.

  • Nicola Sturgeon 'should thank Boris Johnson for refusing to sign up to EU vaccine scheme'

    Nicola Sturgeon should thank Boris Johnson for ignoring SNP demands to sign up to the EU's disastrous vaccine programme when she gets her first Covid jab on Thursday, the Scottish Tory leader has said. Douglas Ross said the First Minister would have faced a much longer wait to be vaccinated if Mr Johnson had heeded her party's demands for the UK to join the European scheme last year. The SNP confirmed that Ms Sturgeon, 50, is scheduled to receive her first jab after she launches her party's election manifesto on Thursday morning. A spokesman said: "These remarks from Douglas Ross are utterly pathetic but entirely in keeping with his petulant, puerile tone." A series of Ms Sturgeon's ministers demanded that the UK sign up to the EU's vaccine procurement plan last year and expressed outrage when Mr Johnson refused. Mike Russell, the Constitution Secretary, warned at the time: "This idiotic refusal is all about Brexit and nothing to do with the pandemic. It will cost lives." The decision was publicly opposed by a series of SNP MPs.

  • Rate of people with Covid antibodies ‘levels off’ across most of UK

    ‘Clear pattern’ between Covid vaccinations and antibody positivity across UK, says Office for National Statistics

  • Covid-19 rates drop below 100 per 100,000 in all local areas of UK

    The last time the entire country recorded rates below 100 was at the start of September.

  • Swedish region declares 'personal lockdown' as country suffers Europe's highest rate of new covid-19 cases

    One of Sweden's most populous regions has declared a "personal lockdown", as the country reported the highest daily rate of daily coronavirus cases in Europe, and more being treated in intensive care for the virus than at its second wave peak. In posters and an online campaign, the region centred on Uppsala, Sweden's fourth biggest city, called on everyone to "consider all human contacts as a potential risk" and avoid contact with anyone they do not live with, in the closest the country has come to a lockdown since the pandemic began. "We are reaching the point of the maximum capacity of what we can handle," Mikael Köhler, the region's health chief told Sweden's TT newswire. "It seems like the British variant has taken over and there's evidence that people are spreading the disease before they have any symptoms." Sweden on Tuesday had the highest rate of new coronavirus cases in Europe, with a seven-day average of 587 new infections per million people on Monday, more than France on 556 and Poland on 540, according to the latest figures on Our World in Data.

  • UK asks for more time to respond to EU Brexit legal action - RTE TV

    DUBLIN (Reuters) -Britain has asked for more time to respond to legal action taken by the European Union over its unilateral decision to ease requirements of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ireland's RTE television reported on Wednesday. The European Union launched legal action against Britain last month for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland that Brussels says breach the Brexit divorce deal agreed with London last year. Brussels gave London, which has said it has not violated the agreement, a month to respond to the legal action, but the British government has requested an extension of one month, RTE reported.

  • Ex-Hollyoaks star Danny Mac "so excited" to welcome first child with Carley Stenson

    "We're just getting on with it the best we can."

  • Covid vaccine passports: what can we learn from Israel?

    Israel became the first country in the world to test vaccine passports when it announced the 'green pass' scheme in February. The passes allow people who have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine to return to restaurants, theatres and sport events. With many countries planning to reopen after their vaccination campaigns, the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, Oliver Holmes, examines the lessons that could be learned from Israel's rollout.

  • Truck driver jailed for 22 years for killing four police officers in Melbourne crash

    A truck driver who was under the influence of drugs and sleep deprived when he drove into four police officers has been sentenced to 22 years in prison. The traffic officers - three policemen and a policewoman - had pulled over a speeding car when Mohinder Singh ploughed into them. Officers Lynette Taylor, Kevin King, Glen Humphris and Joshua Prestney all died at the scene.

  • Moderna says vaccine targeting Covid South African variant ‘promising’

    Moderna’s early trials of a vaccine targeting the South African Covid variant has produced antibodies in mice, raising hopes of its effectiveness for humans. The company is the first to produce a vaccine designed specifically for the variant and last night said its pre-clinical trials for both jabs “improved neutralising titers”, meaning that antibodies detected in the blood increased. Moderna is also developing a multivalent vaccine that combines its original vaccination with the South Africa-specific jab, which the firm says will provide the broadest level of immunity, The Times reported.

  • Madonna eviscerates pro-gun ‘Karen’ with thunderous clap back: ‘You know nothing about me or my life’

    Madonna has clapped back at a pro-gun ‘Karen’ activist after the singer called for increased gun control in the US.

  • UK to respond to EU legal action over Northern Ireland by mid-May

    Britain has agreed with the European Union that it will respond to the bloc's legal action over how it has introduced new trading rules for Northern Ireland by mid-May, a spokeswoman for the government said on Wednesday. The EU launched legal action against Britain in March for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland that Brussels says are in breach of the Brexit divorce deal agreed with London last year. Britain has denied that the move undermines the part of the Brexit deal that governs trade to the British province, saying it extended the grace period for checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland to ease their passage.

  • Countdown's Rachel Riley announces second pregnancy with cryptic clue

    The 35-year-old TV presenter used a 'Countdown' conundrum to reveal her happy news.

  • Apparently just by talking about it, I’m super-spreading long Covid

    Apparently just by talking about it, I’m super-spreading long Covid. A professor has suggested that press coverage could make people believe they have the condition