The wait time between the first and second dose of the Covid vaccine is to be halved to four weeks as No10 urges the jabs roll-out to be sped up with Freedom Day looming.
Officials have asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to provide immediate advice on reducing the interval from the eight weeks stated in current guidance, The Sunday Times has said.
Public Health England s vaccination instructions issued to doctors and nurses states that for the AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs there is evidence of better immune response and/or protection where longer intervals between doses are used .
NHS backlog could soar to 13m on waiting list, warns Javid
The new Health Secretary said the number of people waiting for non-Covid treatment had been what shocked him the most since taking the job.
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âDangerousâ to return to life as normal on July 19, expert warns High levels of Covid-19 vaccination rates could “challenge the virus” to mutate into variants against which the jab is less effective, a Government advisor has warned, amid fears it “would be dangerous” to return to life as normal on July 19. Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) Government advisory panel told Times Radio that “there is a risk” with the planned July 19 reopening, when the Government is expected to lift the vast majority of remaining coronavirus restrictions. It comes at a time when cases are rising, and Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said deaths were beginning to rise again too.
10 Jul 2021
In a supposed bid to increase vaccine uptake among younger Britons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is reportedly looking to mandate vaccine passports for pubs, restaurants, and clubs by the autumn.
After a year of wavering back and forth on the question of using vaccine passports domestically, the British government is said to be seeking to implement a system that would require proof of double vaccination for Britons to enjoy a social life.
“In autumn vaccine passports could become an important tool that will allow us to keep things open,” a Downing Street insider told
The Times.
Another government source added: “If we can show real benefits of getting vaccinated in terms of everyday life then it could be quite a useful tool.”
BBC News
By George Bowden
image copyrightGetty Images
NHS waiting lists in England could more than double in the coming months, the health secretary has said.
Sajid Javid told the Sunday Telegraph officials warned the current waiting list of 5.3 million could get worse .
Mr Javid said he was shocked to learn during his first days in the job that one projection estimated the backlog could amount to 13 million patients.
But he said he was confident most remaining curbs will lift in England on 19 July.
Mr Javid, who became health secretary two weeks ago after his predecessor Matt Hancock resigned following an apology for breaking social-distancing rules, said waiting lists were his priority.