Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter about what you need to know subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and reviews.
The UK will step up its mass vaccination program against coronavirus this week, offering photos to millions of people as the country closes its borders to anyone who has not tested negative.
Vaccines will be given to people decrepit 70 years and over and those considered “extremely vulnerable from a clinical point of view” on Monday – the third and fourth priority groups. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it a “significant step” in the vaccination effort.
The government aims to offer the vaccine to all adults in the UK by September, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday. To date, more than 4.3 million people have received the first dose, according to him Bloomberg vaccine follow-up.
In the meantime, ministers will close travel corridors with other countries from Monday, which means that all visitors from abroad will need a negative test result within 72 hours of traveling to enter the UK. Health officials will step up checks to make sure they isolate themselves at home in the next 10 days.
England no longer obeys Johnson’s blockade orders
The government has not ruled out the establishment of quarantined hotels or the use of GPS trackers to ensure that people remain in position. Raab told Sky News that it would consider “every possibility” of enforcing Covid rules and preventing any new variants of the virus from derailing vaccination efforts in the UK.
Forcing travelers to stay in hotels dedicated to arrival would still put Britain many months behind other countries, such as Australia, which introduced the policy in March last year.
England is on the third national deadlock, with schools closed and people ordered to stay home, while the government tries to control growth in winter. There are currently more than 37,000 coronavirus patients hospitalized, and the daily number of deaths remains high – with another 671 deaths recorded on Sunday.
Johnson’s government has set its sights on the vaccination program to end the crisis. The National Health Service will start launching the shot at the two new groups this week, as some areas of England have already vaccinated the first two priority groups: those over 80 and health and care workers.
Over 39.7 million photos taken: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker
Ten new mass vaccination centers will open this week – including a racecourse, cathedral and rugby field – bringing the total to 17 in England, with more to follow. There are also 1,200 hospitals and medical sites that offer vaccinations.
“We have a long way to go and there will no doubt be challenges – but working together is making huge strides in our fight against this virus,” Johnson said in a statement.
The current blockade is due to be reviewed in mid-February, but ministers have warned that there will be no speedy return to normalcy. Raab said the restrictions would only begin to be lifted by “early spring” and that it would be a gradual process rather than a “big bang”.
Row of benefits
The profound impact of the 10-month restrictions on businesses and workers means that Chancellor Exchequer Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure to do more to help the poorest families.
Britain’s main opposition Labor Party will lift the heat on Monday by forcing a vote in the House of Commons on extending the increase in benefit payments – worth more than £ 1,000 a year – after March 31. it was a “temporary measure” and the March budget will establish support.
The Times reported on Saturday that Sunak intends to make a one-time payment of £ 500 ($ 680) to benefit beneficiaries. But a strong group of Conservative MPs, the Research Group for the North, warned that this would not be enough – and insisted that Sunak must expand the increase in benefits.
Ministers are also facing calls to do more for the sectors of the economy hardest hit by the virus restrictions – British chambers of commerce warned last week that many companies were “on their knees”.
A new government grant program for airports and their ground operations to help cover the costs of closing travel corridors has been hailed by the British Airline Pilots Association – but warned that the aviation situation “is becoming desperate” and called for a more wide recovery.
For Eurostar International Ltd., whose passenger trains connect London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, the outlook is equally bleak. Its traffic fell by 95% just before the latest measures, prompting the London First lobby group to write to Sunak urging it to act quickly to protect the operator’s future.
Eurostar Survival concerns are rising as British companies lobby for rescue