Blackburn with Darwen BC s director of public health has expressed anger at “having our hands tied behind our backs” after the area was denied permission to roll out vaccine to healthy adults under 38 despite experiencing a surge in cases of the Indian Covid variant of concern.
The council made national headlines when it issued a statement with NHS partners yesterday indicating that it was offering the vaccine to all adults, although it has since clarified that it is offering it to over 18s with health conditions or carers or have personal or family/household members with vulnerabilities or imuno-compromised conditions in line with JCVI guidelines.
UK holidaymakers set to find out quarantine-free destinations Friday
Fri, 7th May 2021 06:32
(Alliance News) - Holidaymakers from the UK will finally discover which destinations they can visit this summer without quarantining, with Portugal, Iceland and Malta among those expected to be on the travel green list.
Gibraltar and Israel could also make the cut when the list is published on Friday following weeks of speculation.
Quarantine and coronavirus testing requirements for people arriving in England once foreign holidays are permitted from May 17 will be based on a new traffic light system, with destinations placed on green, amber and red lists.
BBC News
By Marie-Louise Connolly
Published
image copyrightReuters
image captionPeople who have already received their first jab using AstraZeneca will get their second jab with the same vaccine
The Department of Health has said people aged under 40 in NI will be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
Health officials have urged people to keep coming forward for their Covid-19 vaccine.
The change is not a result of new information on the vaccine s link to rare blood clots.
This latest decision is because the risk from Covid-19 is falling, which alters the risk/benefit calculations for younger age groups.
While this policy currently applies to those under 30, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has decided to move the age threshold after new and slightly increased figures on clots were reported.
NI vaccine: Department of Health issues latest vaccine advice as under-40s urged to come forward for jab
The DoH said NI adults under 40 will be given an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine
South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon (Image: Jonathan Porter/Presseye)
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Fears Indian Covid variant could scupper road map as UK cases fall
Sat, 17th Apr 2021 09:55
(Alliance News) - The Indian coronavirus mutation could scupper the UK s march to freedom, a leading scientist has warned, despite the lockdown and vaccine programme leading to cases falling to a seven-month low.
Covid-19 infections across the UK dropped to the lowest level since the autumn, according to the latest figures.
But a professor of immunology has called for Britain to be on its guard against a third wave after 77 cases of another possible vaccine-busting mutation was recorded domestically.
Public Health England reported that 73 cases of the B.1.617 variant, which was first discovered in India, had been found, while a further four cases were identified in Scotland.