Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Vaccines are ‘saving lives’ says Mcbride
THE Chief Medical Officer has given his full backing to Northern Ireland’s vaccine programme.
Dr Michael Mcbride was responding to differing reports on the effectiveness of the jabs.
He urged people to be confident in the vaccines being rolled out and urged everyone eligible for the shot to have it.
Dr Mcbride said: “The Astrazeneca and Pfizerbiontech vaccines are protecting people from Covid-19 – and saving lives.
“They have been independently and expertly assessed as effective against the strains of the virus that are dominant in Northern Ireland and elsewhere on these islands.
“They have been approved for the entire adult population.
“I’m aware of a smallscale study that suggests that Astrazeneca may not be as effective against mild disease from the South Africa variant of the virus.
“Firstly, the South Africa variant is not dominant in the UK – indeed there have been no confirmed cases of it at all in Northern Ireland at this time.
“Secondly, while protection against mild disease is desirable, the most important objective is protection against serious illness, hospitalisation and death.”
LOCKDOWN has made us Mex it up in the kitchen and give old favourites such as spag bol a miss.
Research shows families have been snapping up Mexican cooking sauces in the coronavirus crisis.
Sales of Old El Paso rose by £19.2million, compared to £13.1m for pasta sauce maker – and previous league leader – Dolmio.
Old El Paso’s Jose Alves told The Grocer magazine: “People are looking for something a bit different to break up the boredom.”