The immune response to COVID-19 vaccines in patients with certain immunosuppressed conditions is set to be examined in a new study. Patients with cancer, inflammatory arthritis, kidney or liver diseases or those having a stem cell transplant may have a higher chance of having the more severe complications of coronavirus. Such underlying medical conditions and
Month: March 2021
EU proposals for a vaccine passport could kick start tourism across the bloc from as early as June – raising hopes lockdown-weary Britons could enjoy a summer holiday on the continent. The European Commission is suggesting a “digital green pass” that would provide proof a person has been vaccinated against coronavirus, as well as test
Michael Ellis will take up the post of attorney general while Suella Braverman takes maternity leave, Downing Street has said. The government announced last month that legislation would be introduced to change the “clearly outdated” rules and allow her to take the leave. Ms Braverman will be designated Minister on Leave (Attorney General) during her
Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague has been given a warning over social media promotions, after an £8,000 online giveaway was found to have broken official rules. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the influencer’s prize draw, which she held to mark reaching 1 million YouTube subscribers, was not administered fairly. Hague, who appeared on Love
The Isle Of Wight Festival has announced it will go ahead this year, but is moving from June to September following the government’s roadmap out of lockdown announcement. It was originally due to run from 17 to 20 June, just ahead of the date of 21 June given by Boris Johnson as the earliest possible
The hunt for an unidentified person who tested positive for the Brazil variant of coronavirus has narrowed to 379 households in southeast England, the health secretary has said. In total, six cases of the P1 coronavirus variant first found in Brazil have been discovered in the UK. One has still yet to be identified after
“Repentant bandits” helped secure the release of 279 girls kidnapped from a Nigerian boarding school, it has emerged – as the students open up about the horrors of their ordeal. A group of about 100 gunmen burst into the Girls Science Secondary School in the northwestern state of Zamfara on Friday and abducted the students.
Former soldier Ant Middleton has fought back over Channel 4’s claims it had severed ties with him over his “personal conduct”. The broadcaster had said in a statement this week that it will not work with Middleton again because “our views and values are not aligned”. But the star of SAS: Who Dares Wins said
What’s going to be in the budget? A lot of the big announcements have already been revealed, leaked, or guessed at. Here’s what to expect: HOUSINGA mortgage guarantee scheme will help home buyers purchase properties worth up to £600,000 with a deposit of just 5% with the government underwriting the other 95%.Rishi Sunak could also
The chancellor is expected to give £408m to help museums, theatres and galleries to reopen in England as coronavirus restrictions ease. Rishi Sunak will announce the support for the badly-hit culture sector in his Budget on Wednesday, as many theatres mark a year of forced closure this month. The Budget will also include a “significant
A painting by Sir Winston Churchill and owned by Angelina Jolie has been sold for £8.285m. The sale price was almost four times the upper pre-sale estimate and it also beat the previous record price for a Churchill painting, which was just under £1.8m. Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque was sold at Christie’s in London
The prime minister has offered Britain’s stadiums for the whole European Championship while eyeing a bid for the 2030 World Cup. The tournament was postponed from last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The semi-finals and final are already set for Wembley in July but Boris Johnson told The Sun: “Any other matches they want
Scientists say they have confirmed the existence of space hurricanes, with a 600 mile-wide mass spotted above the North Pole. Researchers led by China’s Shandong University used satellite data to identify the space hurricane, finding it was not a whirling pattern of air but of plasma – ionised gas. The mass was raining electrons instead
Twitter is expanding its use of warning labels, targeting tweets that contain misleading details about coronavirus vaccines. The decision has been made to strengthen the social network’s existing COVID-19 guidance, which has led to the removal of more than 8,400 tweets and challenged 11.5 million accounts worldwide. Labels providing additional context are already attached to
The Download Festival has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic for the second year running, its “heartbroken” organisers have said. England’s roadmap out of lockdown, announced by Boris Johnson last month, makes it impossible for the three-day weekend event to take place between 4 and 6 June, they said. In a statement, organisers said:
A single shot of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines is more than 80% effective at preventing hospitalisation among the over 80s, the health secretary has said. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Matt Hancock hailed “exciting new data” showing the effectiveness of the two COVID-19 jabs. According to a pre-print study from Public