One-dose vaccine wins US approval
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed the safety and efficacy of a single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
One jag protects individuals from the virus, according to analysis by US regulators that sets the stage for a final decision on a new and easier-to-use shot to help tame the pandemic
The FDA confirmed that overall the vaccine is about 66 per cent effective at preventing moderate to severe Covid-19.
The agency also said the vaccine – which could help speed vaccinations by requiring just one dose instead of two – is safe to use.
That is just one step in the FDA'S evaluation of a third vaccine option for the US.
On Friday, the agency's independent advisers will debate if the evidence is strong enough to recommend the long-anticipated shot.
Armed with this advice, the FDA is expected to make a final decision within days
and none of them can come to Scotland. It is a very fine balance between being financially able to open and remaining closed."
Mr Meikle said the Scottish Government grant of £2,000 a month did not even cover half of the £5,500 a month it costs to keep the hotel building running without any guests.
Mr Chamberlain said he believed many tourists would shy away from booking Scottish hotels and said the tight restrictions have "really serious implications” for Scottish businesses.
He said: "We took our first
cancellation while Sturgeon was still on her feet yesterday and we continued to take cancellations during the day. What's going to happen is that Scots are going to look at this plan and go to England. People will look at England and see that it gives them the prospect of a holiday – they will have confidence in it.
"Whereas in Scotland, all they can see is nothing because there's nothing they can hold onto. Who's going to book a holiday with us? How do we compete?
"We're trying to promote Scottish tourism, trying to say
'come to us, we're safe, we're secure, we've done all the things to keep you safe'. We've got wide open spaces in the borders and it's a perfect place to come for a holiday, and yet the only people who can realistically visit in the near future are people who already live here. It's soul-destroying."
Mr Chamberlain added that the tightening of tiers and restrictions has “really serious implications” for businesses like his own.
"It's being reported that Scotlandisbroadlyinstepwithengland when it is not, not by any stretch of the imagination."
Speaking at yesterday’s coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said: "I’ve tried to be straight with people. I didn’t say to any business that it would be safe to start taking bookings, though it will be soon.
"But I don’t want businesses to be in a position where I’m giving them a date that I can’t back up and then go back on that. As we go through the next weeks, we will add to the clarity we have been able to give as much as we possibly can.
"I’m sorry for any business in the situation you are just describing. I don’t want a single business to be living with
these restrictions longer than is necessary.”
After Ms Sturgeon’s announcement on Tuesday business said more clarity was needed over the easing of restrictions.
Dr Liz Cameron OBE, the chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: "While it does not go as far or as fast as the Prime Minister did towards clarifying when we can get back to business, we will continue to robustly represent business views to Scottish Government to help inform this plan in the coming days and weeks."
She added: "More detail on the roadmap is essential as it will enable both consumers as well as businesses plan for reopening, and we need the Scottish Government to stick to its guns on these dates as much as is possible."
Scottish Tourism Alliance chief executive Marc Crothall, said: "I know from the many conversations I've had with tourism businesses this week, and particularly within the last 24 hours that they were hoping for more detail around the pathway to reopening."
Four of Scotland’s best-loved “celebrity” birds of prey have landed on Mars.
It’s thought the family of ospreys, from a nest at Loch Arkaiginthehighlands,arethe firstoftheirkindtoreachthered planet.
Although known for their long-distance flying abilities, the ospreys didn’t actually travel 34 million miles across outer space under their own steam.
Theyhitchedaride-oratleast theirnamesdid-aboardnasa’s Perseverance mission, which successfully touched down last Thursday after a seven-month voyage.
Theunusualflightcameabout afterthebirds,whoseanticsare broadcasttowildlifefansacross the UK and beyond via a camera at their nest, were nominated to join the mission by a loyal follower.
Linda Keene, of Cumbernauld, is an avid viewer of the nestcam footage and couldn’t resist putting the names of the birds - dad Louis, mum Aila and their chicks Mallie and Rannoch - forward when Nasa invited people to suggest candidates to have their names etched inside the Perseverance rover.
“I am a big fan of our beloved Aila and Louis,” she said.
“They go through all kinds of adversity and I worry about the chicks surviving and Aila gettingattackedonthenestandthe eggs being eaten.
“Likelotsofardentfansiputin night shifts watching.
“I thought of the Mars Rover going through so much to achieveitsgoalsatthattimeand thoughtourwonderfulospreys have such amazing goals to achieve in their lives just to survive. They are simply amazing and their names should be onboard together with their weans.”
The mission blasted off last summerandroverhasreached the surface of Mars with the osprey names amongst those etched on special chips inside.
George Anderson, of Woodland Trust Scotland, said: “The Loch Arkaig ospreys became very famous last year when they became a lockdown hit with people stuck at home desperate to connect with nature.
“We never thought their fame would stretch as far away as another planet though.
“We are very touched that Linda has celebrated the birds in this way.”
Ospreyswereextinctintheuk for much of the 20th century.
The species began to recover in the 1960s, and now an estimated 300 pairs of ospreys breedinbritain–mostlyinscotland – each summer.
The birds migrate to West Africa during winter, flying up to 270 miles a day.
The usually hook up with the samemateeachyearwhenthey return for the breeding season.
The nestcam at Loch Arkaig Pineforestissupportedbyplayersofpeople'spostcodelottery.
It is currently offline – while Louisandailaareinafrica–but will go live in the middle of next month, ahead of their expected return to in early April.
The pair raised their first chick, Lachlan, in 2017.
In 2018 the nest failed after a pine marten raided the eggs.
Mallie and Rannoch were hatched in 2019, followed by Doddie, Vera and Captain in 2020 – watched by a virtual audience of nearly 400,000 people.