Covid UK News Live: Minister is set to give green light to children’s vaccines

Some Brazilian cities offer Covid booster jabs, even though most people have not yet been vaccinated for a second time. This is a sign of concern for the highly contagious delta mutation.

Rio de Janeiro, the epicenter of the Brazilian subspecies and one of the largest elderly populations, began receiving boosters on Wednesday. The northeastern cities of Salvador and San Luis start on Monday, and the most populous cities in São Paulo start after the weekend. The rest of the countries will continue next week.

France, Israel, China and Chile are one of the countries that provide boosters to older people, but in these countries more than 30% of people who have been vaccinated twice in Brazil are completely I am vaccinated.

According to pollster Datafolha, about 9 out of 10 Brazilians have already been or will be vaccinated. Most have the first jab, but not the second.

UK long-term care facilities are facing a staffing crisis that can overwhelm the sector. The union warned that thousands of unvaccinated workers had only a few days left to get the first coronavirus jab or face the bag.

The “no jab” rule requires that everyone working in the care facility be fully vaccinated by November 11, but there is an 8 week delay between the two vaccinations and the staff is 9 You must receive your first vaccination by the 16th of March. – To comply.

Unison called on ministers to abolish the rules before the deadline this month, warning that care facilities, which already lack 110,000 workers, could be closed extensively.

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New Zealand reported the first coronavirus death in more than 6 months, but the number of new cases continues to decline.

Health officials said the woman who died was in her 90s and had underlying health problems.

Authorities reported 20 new community cases, all in Auckland’s largest city.

New Zealand remains blocked as it seeks to eliminate the outbreak of delta variants that began last month. New cases of outbreaks are steadily declining from peaks of over 80 daily.

New Zealand has escaped the worst pandemic so far and has reported only 27 Covid deaths since its inception.

Ministers need to consider the widespread implications of not vaccination of children due to the potential for large-scale educational disruptions that are members of the Emergency Science Advisory Group (Sage).

Professor John Edmonds talked to BBC Radio 4 about the decisions faced by the UK Chief Medical Officer. today Program: “It’s very difficult. They will take a broader perspective than JCVI took. I think so.

“We think we need to take into account the broader impact that Covid can have on children and their educational and developmental outcomes.

“In the UK today, it’s hard to say the number of uninfected children, but it’s probably about half of them. This is about 6 million children, allowing the infection to spread to the entire population. If so, it’s a long way to go. It’s a lot of infected children, and it will cause a lot of confusion in the school in the coming months. “

The side effects that the coronavirus vaccine can have on children can be more important than its benefits, the former Chief Scientific Advisor suggests.

Professor Mark Wahlberg told BBC Radio 4 today Program: “The health of my children and grandchildren is also influenced by their social environment, their ability to go to school, and what is happening in their families, so there are broader factors as well.

“All evidence is that the incidence of myocarditis, heart muscle inflammation, and pericarditis is at least the same, and if infected with the coronavirus, it is probably significantly higher in the same population group.”

Sir Mark said the government would consider the more widespread harm of not vaccination of children aged 12 to 15 years.

“It’s unpleasant, but it’s not always a rare situation,” he said.

“JCVI examines through a very specialized lens, which is the clinical safety of the vaccine against a particular population group against the effects of the disease itself.

“But what they don’t see is broader issues such as education and harm to it. Therefore, the potential harm to children and the knock-on effect on their families-that’s where policy makers come in.”

A former director of the World Health Organization said the medical benefits of vaccination of children are clear.

Professor Anthony Costello said he would have voted “strongly” to vaccinate healthy teens, disagreeing with JCVI’s refusal to recommend jabs to children aged 12 to 15. rice field.

“I think it’s pretty clear,” he told Sky News.

“Now I think the chief medical officer will change that decision, probably for social and educational benefits, but I think the medical benefits are pretty clear.”

Professor Costello says the current “main argument” is that children infected with Covid are at medical risk.

“Well, most of them have milder infections, but the risks are not trivial,” he said. “And I think it’s justified to vaccinate all children. Of course, this is a voluntary decision, but it is highly recommended that relatives, friends and patients be vaccinated. . “

Professor Costello added that Delta was a “different pandemic” from previous variants and that there were many infections among fully vaccinated people.

Delaying the final decision on whether to provide the Covid vaccine to everyone between the ages of 12 and 15 is “frustrating,” according to experts from the Scottish Health Commission.

Gillian Evans, head of health intelligence at the NHS Grand Pian, said vaccination of the age group could prevent the virus from being transmitted and protect children from long covids.

“We know that the JCVI’s decisions are primarily based on personal interests and risks to children and do not consider some of the broader impacts, and that is what the Chief Medical Officer does.” Ms. Evans told the BBC Good morning scotland program.

“The thing about this is that it’s frustrating to just add more delay to the decisions we’re already pushing, so things are a little delayed.

“I’m absolutely sure there will be a lot of activity now and in the future, but I can make decisions as quickly as possible.”

She said the risk of long covids in children was thought to be small, but much is not yet known about the disease.

Ms. Evans continued. “You might think you picked up this news and JCVI said no.

“They don’t say no. What they said is the balance between the small benefits of vaccination and the risk of serious illness that we say no, but more than others. Leave it open for consideration of a wide range of considerations.

“So people may be confused by it.”

Labor Minister Elizabeth Borne said France could ease the health pass restrictions that are damaging large-scale shopping mall businesses if Covid’s situation continues to improve.

“Health is improving. If this is confirmed, the rules could be relaxed,” Bourne told France Interradio, which could be decided “in the next few days.” Added.

In early August, French retail group Auchan said the introduction of a health pass, which customers must offer in malls with a surface area of ​​over 20,000 square meters, hit the business early in the third quarter.

Former media chief Boris Johnson revealed that outdated communication skills at the heart of the government will be completed minutes before the famous slides displayed at the Downing Street press conference are broadcast live. The more often I was exposed to Covid’s pandemic.

Lee Kane said the public received various messages during the crisis as a result of the failure of the government’s communication strategy early in the crisis.

And he said that the telecommunications staff hub set up in the Cabinet Office to oversee official intelligence campaigns when the infection surged and the country fell into a blockade was inexperienced staff, unclear responsibilities, and consistency. He said he had “failed” due to no policy and an endemic leak.

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