Get the Covid jab, urges Hancock
PEOPLE aged 36 and 37 are to be offered the Covid vaccine from this week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced as he appealed to people to get the jab.
In a Commons statement, Mr Hancock said there were now 2,323 confirmed cases of the Indian variant in the UK – of which 483 were in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen. He said that cases had doubled in the past week – with 19 people in Bolton in hospital with the variant and eight in Blackburn – and that it was now the dominant strain in the area.
“The majority of people in hospital (in Bolton) with coronavirus were eligible for the jab but have chosen not yet to have the jab and have ended up in hospital, some of them in intensive care,” he said.
“Vaccines save lives. They protect you, they protect your loved ones and they will help us all get out of this pandemic.”
Meanwhile, updates on plans for domestic coronavirus “passports”, announcements on easing social distancing requirements and further guidance on weddings could be pushed back due to uncertainty over the Indian variant.
The spread of the highly transmissible variant has placed plans for the further easing of restrictions in jeopardy despite the lifting of some lockdown measures yesterday. Despite the appearance of the B1617.2 variant in the UK, Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng insisted England’s roadmap remained on track for the June 21 easing of the remaining restrictions if people acted responsibly.
But Downing Street said the spread of the variant could push back plans to set out guidance ahead of that date.
Last week, Boris Johnson promised “we’ll be saying more later this month about exactly what the world will look like” on June 21 “and what role there could be – if any – for certification and social distancing”. He also told MPs that “we will before the end of this month, set out all the details about the marriage world post-June 21”.
But Downing Street refused to commit to those timetables yesterday. “We need time to assess the latest data on this variant first identified in India so I’m not going to give a set time for doing that,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
“We want to do everything possible to give people enough time to prepare.”
Although ministers believe the vaccines will be effective against the Indian variant of concern, there are worries about the impact of its spread on those for whom the jabs do not provide protection or people who have not yet had a shot.
Mr Kwarteng told Sky News that “people should have common sense, they should use judgment and I think if we act in a reasonable way, there is no reason to suppose that we can’t reopen the economy entirely on June 21”.
Professor Graham Medley, a member of the Government’s Sage scientific advisory panel, told LBC the chances of the June 21 date being delayed was “well less than 50%” but added “it is uncertain”.