Summary for Friday, 18th December
Welcome to our live page coverage this Friday morning. We’ll be bringing you updates on the coronavirus pandemic from the UK and around the world throughout the day.
A panel of experts voted 20-0 with one abstention that the benefits of the Moderna vaccine outweighed the risks for those aged 18 and over.
The same committee last week backed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was then authorised for emergency use the following day.
Following the panel's endorsement, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told Moderna that it would work "rapidly" towards issuing emergency use authorisation.
Regulators reported earlier this week that the Moderna vaccine was safe and 94% effective.
You can read more on this story here.
Many of the UK’s newspapers feature the coronavirus pandemic on their front pages – including the news that more areas will join tier three. But the papers also report that restrictions could be tightened further.
The Daily Telegraph reports that ministers will consider implementing a third national coronavirus lockdown after Christmas, if the current surge in cases does not come under control during the festive period. And the Times says the government is considering tightening restrictions further in south-east England.
Read the full paper review here.
- Boris Johnson says he hopes to avoid a third lockdown in England but warns infection rates have risen "very much" in recent weeks
- Northern Ireland has announced a new six-week coronavirus lockdown from 26 December
- Wales has already announced a three-week lockdown from 28 December and Scotland is considering tighter restrictions
- Ministers have defended plans for many pupils in England and Wales to have a staggered return post-Christmas
- Teachers say the announcement - designed to allow schools to set up Covid testing schemes - came too late
- A second vaccine is nearing emergency approval in the US after it was endorsed by a panel of experts
- The head of the FDA said it would move "rapidly" to authorise the Moderna vaccine, allowing millions of doses to be shipped
- Some 38 million people in England will be subject to the nation's strictest measures - tier three - from Saturday
- Officials in Northern Ireland have defended the introduction of a new six-week coronavirus lockdown from 26 December
- Wales has already announced a three-week lockdown from 28 December and Scotland is considering tighter restrictions
- Secondary school pupils in England and Wales will have a staggered return post-Christmas
- Globally there have been 75 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1.66 million deaths with the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University
Welcome to our live page coverage this Friday morning. We’ll be bringing you updates on the coronavirus pandemic from the UK and around the world throughout the day.
What’s happening in the UK this morning?
- For millions of people in east and south-east England, today is the last day until they move into tier three – the top level of coronavirus rules. Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire will move up a tier, as will parts of Surrey, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire. By Saturday, more than two thirds of England’s population (or 38 million people) will be living under tier three
- Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, a new six-week lockdown will be brought in from Boxing Day, the executive has announced. Non-essential shops will shut, along with pubs and restaurants except for takeaway. Close contact services such as hair salons will also shut
- Doctors are being told to offer patients in hospital with coronavirus a follow-up appointment six weeks later to check for “long Covid” symptoms. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says the long-term effects can be significant
- The pandemic has exposed big gaps in the UK’s oversight of national security, a report by a committee of MPs has found. The report said that since 2010, a pandemic was categorised as among the highest security risks for the UK – but there was only one major planning exercise for it and it left some critical areas untested
What's making international headlines?
Here is a round-up of some of the top coronavirus stories from around the world on Friday:- A second vaccine is nearing emergency approval in the US after it was endorsed by a panel of experts. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to authorise the use of the Moderna vaccine later today, allowing the company to begin shipping millions of doses. Another vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech was approved nearly a week ago
- Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has brought forward its decision on approving the Moderna vaccine from 12 January to 6 January. EU countries are awaiting the agency's decision on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, due on Monday, before rolling it out across the bloc
- French President Emmanuel Macron is isolating at his official residence at La Lanterne in Versailles after testing positive for Covid. His office says he is suffering from a fever, a cough and fatigue. His wife, Brigitte, has tested negative and isn't joining him
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has criticised the country's Supreme Court for ruling that those who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 should be subject to restrictive measures. The court said people would not be physically compelled to receive the vaccination, but could be banned from some public activities and spaces if they refused. Bolsonaro has said that he won't be vaccinated and that no-one else should be forced to
- An outbreak of cases in the Australian city of Sydney has risen to 28. The New South Wales government has placed the Northern Beaches region on "high alert" and urged a quarter of a million residents to stay at home for at least the next three days. It comes after months of relative calm and low case numbers in the country
US moves closer to approving second vaccine
More now on the news that a second coronavirus vaccine is nearing emergency approval in the US.A panel of experts voted 20-0 with one abstention that the benefits of the Moderna vaccine outweighed the risks for those aged 18 and over.
The same committee last week backed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was then authorised for emergency use the following day.
Following the panel's endorsement, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told Moderna that it would work "rapidly" towards issuing emergency use authorisation.
Regulators reported earlier this week that the Moderna vaccine was safe and 94% effective.
You can read more on this story here.
The papers: 'Bleakest midwinter' as Covid tiers extended
Many of the UK’s newspapers feature the coronavirus pandemic on their front pages – including the news that more areas will join tier three. But the papers also report that restrictions could be tightened further.
The Daily Telegraph reports that ministers will consider implementing a third national coronavirus lockdown after Christmas, if the current surge in cases does not come under control during the festive period. And the Times says the government is considering tightening restrictions further in south-east England.
Read the full paper review here.