Is vaccine shortage threatening Freedom Day? Covid jabs plunge to under half their peak of 844,000 a day as dose supplies become 'tight' and NHS boss admits they are 'pacing' themselves
The Covid vaccine rollout has now slowed to under half its peak speed despite Boris Johnson stressing the urgent need to jab as many people as possible to free Britain from lockdown. In light of the rapidly spreading Indian variant, the Government has brought forward its target for vaccinating all adults until July 19 - the same day the final unlocking has been pushed back until. Ministers had previously pledged to offer jabs to all over-18s by July 31. And the Prime Minister this week delayed Freedom Day from June 21 to July 19 to give the NHS a 'few more crucial weeks' to protect Britons from the Indian, or Delta, variant. But Britain administered just 368,555 vaccine doses on Monday - well under half the 844,285 it managed on a single day in March. The pace has slowed because of the decision by Government advisers to recommend alternatives to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for the under-40s and limited supply of the two alternatives - Pfizer and Moderna. Ministers have conceded that the supply of the Pfizer jab is particularly 'tight' while the Moderna vaccine - which has only just become available - is thought to be similarly limited. NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens (top right) has said that the health service would 'finish the job' of the vaccination programme to the 'greatest extent possible' over the next four weeks, and he expects all remaining adults to be offered their first vaccine by the end of the week. But he told the NHS Confederation's annual conference 'supply continues to be constrained'. Government advisers recommended an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for under-40s after it was linked to fatal blood clots. But this has hugely increased demand for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Downing Street's vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi last week admitted stocks of Pfizer - the main jab being administered to young people - would be 'tight' this month
'We can't run society to stop the hospitals getting full': Rees Mogg talks tough as UK's daily Covid cases rise by a quarter in a week and hospitalisations soar by 46%
Jacob Rees-Mogg today gave the first sign of Cabinet dissent over Boris Johnson's decision to delay the final stage of the lockdown exit roadmap - as ministers doubled-down on No10's revised Freedom Day pledge, despite cases and hospitalisations continuing to rise. The Commons Leader (pictured right in the House of Commons) said 'you can't run society purely to stop the hospitals being full', insisting the Government 'doesn't have the right to take charge of people's lives, purely to prevent them seeing the doctor'. His comments are likely to raise eyebrows in Downing St, with the Prime Minister already facing rebellion from his own anti-lockdown MPs who have criticised him for pushing back the final unlocking by four weeks. Remaining lockdown restrictions are now due to be lifted on July 19 - or 'terminus day', as Mr Johnson called it. Michael Gove today said he was 'as confident as confident can be about that date', despite fears from backbench Tories that the goalposts will be moved once again with the Indian variant continuing to spread and the outbreak still growing. It comes as Department of Health bosses today posted another 7,673 positive Covid tests across Britain (left) - up by a quarter on last Tuesday's figure. Other data shows the UK now has the highest infection rate in Europe, overtaking Spain. Meanwhile, figures also showed the number of patients being admitted to hospital has soared by 46 per cent over the first week of June. More than 1,000 beds are now occupied by coronavirus-infected patients in England for the first time in six weeks, data also showed.
Boris Johnson faces possible Tory revolt in vote on extending coronavirus restrictions
Boris Johnson faces the prospect of a Tory rebellion when MPs are asked to approve the extension of coronavirus restrictions in England until July 19.
The House of Commons will vote on Wednesday evening on the four-week delay to the end of lockdown measures, aimed at buying more time for the vaccine programme.
All hospitality wanted everything to open on June 21st.........
Be careful what you wish for...... a load of businesses (Restaurants, Bars etc.) are having to SHUT down again for 10 days in Cornwall, because COVID is rife around here again, with Newquay being one of the worst areas in the country for an increase in cases. Obviously from Bank Holiday week and all people coming here for G7
Let's just wait 'til everyone is fully vaccinated, makes much more sense
Embarrassing seeing full stadiums in Denmark and Hungary, yet we, with an even more vaccinated population, are still afraid to open up. Presumably we'll be locking down every flu season from now on.
Deathly forecasts that just never added up... Yet again dodgy data has terrified us into submission. The real scandal? It's only the latest glaring example - as this forensic analysis reveals
ROSS CLARK: Throughout the pandemic, whenever we have dared to hope normal life might soon return our hopes have been dashed by some terrifying new graph or yet another doom-laden claim from Sage, the Government's scientific advisory committee on emergencies. This week, of course, was no exception, as our long-awaited Freedom Day was postponed by yet another month. So much for 'three weeks to flatten the curve', the promise back in March 2020. On far too many occasions, Sage's alarmist predictions during the pandemic have turned out to be grossly wide of the mark. Here are just a few of the frightening claims that have been used to keep us in lockdown and to maintain all manner of heavy-handed restrictions over lives - and how badly those predictions have fared against reality...
It's scandalous how they keep getting away with using out of date, incorrect data to drive policy. In any other walk of life they'd be criminally prosecuted.
The Sunday Telegraph says it can disclose that Health Secretary Matt Hancock failed to tell Boris Johnson about a major study showing the effectiveness of vaccines against the Delta variant during last Sunday's meeting called to decide whether to extend Covid restrictions in England.
It says the disclosure raises the possibility that ministers could have opted to lift the restrictions on Monday as originally planned if they had been aware of the study.
A Department of Health spokesman tells the paper that any suggestion Mr Hancock "bounced" Mr Johnson was "categorically untrue" - and information provided by Public Health England was shared across government before the meeting.
Comments
The Covid vaccine rollout has now slowed to under half its peak speed despite Boris Johnson stressing the urgent need to jab as many people as possible to free Britain from lockdown. In light of the rapidly spreading Indian variant, the Government has brought forward its target for vaccinating all adults until July 19 - the same day the final unlocking has been pushed back until. Ministers had previously pledged to offer jabs to all over-18s by July 31. And the Prime Minister this week delayed Freedom Day from June 21 to July 19 to give the NHS a 'few more crucial weeks' to protect Britons from the Indian, or Delta, variant. But Britain administered just 368,555 vaccine doses on Monday - well under half the 844,285 it managed on a single day in March. The pace has slowed because of the decision by Government advisers to recommend alternatives to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for the under-40s and limited supply of the two alternatives - Pfizer and Moderna. Ministers have conceded that the supply of the Pfizer jab is particularly 'tight' while the Moderna vaccine - which has only just become available - is thought to be similarly limited. NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens (top right) has said that the health service would 'finish the job' of the vaccination programme to the 'greatest extent possible' over the next four weeks, and he expects all remaining adults to be offered their first vaccine by the end of the week. But he told the NHS Confederation's annual conference 'supply continues to be constrained'. Government advisers recommended an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for under-40s after it was linked to fatal blood clots. But this has hugely increased demand for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Downing Street's vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi last week admitted stocks of Pfizer - the main jab being administered to young people - would be 'tight' this month
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9690219/Covid-jabs-plunge-half-peak-844-000-day-doses-tight.html
https://video.dailymail.co.uk/preview/mol/2021/06/15/3423627376704009811/636x382_MP4_3423627376704009811.mp4
Jacob Rees-Mogg today gave the first sign of Cabinet dissent over Boris Johnson's decision to delay the final stage of the lockdown exit roadmap - as ministers doubled-down on No10's revised Freedom Day pledge, despite cases and hospitalisations continuing to rise. The Commons Leader (pictured right in the House of Commons) said 'you can't run society purely to stop the hospitals being full', insisting the Government 'doesn't have the right to take charge of people's lives, purely to prevent them seeing the doctor'. His comments are likely to raise eyebrows in Downing St, with the Prime Minister already facing rebellion from his own anti-lockdown MPs who have criticised him for pushing back the final unlocking by four weeks. Remaining lockdown restrictions are now due to be lifted on July 19 - or 'terminus day', as Mr Johnson called it. Michael Gove today said he was 'as confident as confident can be about that date', despite fears from backbench Tories that the goalposts will be moved once again with the Indian variant continuing to spread and the outbreak still growing. It comes as Department of Health bosses today posted another 7,673 positive Covid tests across Britain (left) - up by a quarter on last Tuesday's figure. Other data shows the UK now has the highest infection rate in Europe, overtaking Spain. Meanwhile, figures also showed the number of patients being admitted to hospital has soared by 46 per cent over the first week of June. More than 1,000 beds are now occupied by coronavirus-infected patients in England for the first time in six weeks, data also showed.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9687997/Weekly-Covid-deaths-plunge-low-just-52-victims-week-June.html
Boris Johnson faces the prospect of a Tory rebellion when MPs are asked to approve the extension of coronavirus restrictions in England until July 19.
The House of Commons will vote on Wednesday evening on the four-week delay to the end of lockdown measures, aimed at buying more time for the vaccine programme.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-faces-possible-tory-revolt-in-vote-on-extending-coronavirus-restrictions/ar-AAL5bfA?ocid=msedgntp
Be careful what you wish for...... a load of businesses (Restaurants, Bars etc.) are having to SHUT down again for 10 days in Cornwall, because COVID is rife around here again, with Newquay being one of the worst areas in the country for an increase in cases. Obviously from Bank Holiday week and all people coming here for G7
Let's just wait 'til everyone is fully vaccinated, makes much more sense
Embarrassing seeing full stadiums in Denmark and Hungary, yet we, with an even more vaccinated population, are still afraid to open up. Presumably we'll be locking down every flu season from now on.
ROSS CLARK: Throughout the pandemic, whenever we have dared to hope normal life might soon return our hopes have been dashed by some terrifying new graph or yet another doom-laden claim from Sage, the Government's scientific advisory committee on emergencies. This week, of course, was no exception, as our long-awaited Freedom Day was postponed by yet another month. So much for 'three weeks to flatten the curve', the promise back in March 2020. On far too many occasions, Sage's alarmist predictions during the pandemic have turned out to be grossly wide of the mark. Here are just a few of the frightening claims that have been used to keep us in lockdown and to maintain all manner of heavy-handed restrictions over lives - and how badly those predictions have fared against reality...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9698603/ROSS-CLARK-Deathly-forecasts-just-never-added-up.html
The Sunday Telegraph says it can disclose that Health Secretary Matt Hancock failed to tell Boris Johnson about a major study showing the effectiveness of vaccines against the Delta variant during last Sunday's meeting called to decide whether to extend Covid restrictions in England.
It says the disclosure raises the possibility that ministers could have opted to lift the restrictions on Monday as originally planned if they had been aware of the study.
A Department of Health spokesman tells the paper that any suggestion Mr Hancock "bounced" Mr Johnson was "categorically untrue" - and information provided by Public Health England was shared across government before the meeting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-57542374
Independence Day, ‘ Freedom Day’.
If that happens,then as usual, it has nothing to do with a virus.
The modelling used to justify the delay...
From good sources,friends and friends of friends in the NHS.
Unless it’s something like a tonsil op, where you can kick em up the a rse and straight out the door, more beds will be occupied.
I’ve also heard nurses have been encouraged to take their hols well before September, that’s when a rush is expected.