The NHS Confederation has urged the government to reconsider its 'living with Covid' plan and introduce mitigating actions that will help avoid further
critical incidents being declared at the NHS front-line.
The organisation said the high rates of Covid is having a major impact on the delivery of health services and slowing down efforts to reduce large waiting lists,
noting that the country has been in the grip of another spike in Covid cases resulting from the Omicron BA.2 variant.
With more than 20,000 patients now in hospital with Covid (or who have Covid but are in hospital for other reasons) and high staff absences, NHS is facing huge
operational challenges, harming efforts to reduce waiting times in other areas, it said.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued draft guidance on 'Evusheld' which is not recommended for vulnerable adult with high
risk of severe Covid-19 on Thursday (16 February).
The draft guidance is open for public consultation until 9 March 2023. The committee will consider any comments received at a meeting currently due to take place on
4 April 2023.
It comes after last month's decision by the US drug regulator to withdraw its emergency use authorisation for Evusheld as a preventative treatment for Covid-19,
which said there was insufficient evidence that Evusheld is effective against the dominant variants of Covid-19 in the US.
NICE's independent appraisal committee has reached the same conclusion having considered evidence which shows Evusheld is unlikely to prevent infection with most of
the variants circulating in the UK now and in the near future.
It has also announced that it is developing a new review process to update recommendations on the cost-effectiveness of Covid-19 treatments so they can be made
available more quickly to patients if they show promise against new variants and are found to be cost-effective.
GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi said on Wednesday (December 15) they expect data from late-stage clinical trials of its booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the first quarter, instead of this year, another delay for the potential shot.
The news came as two companies said preliminary data from trials showed the single-dose booster provided strong immune responses. They added that they need more
time to test the booster on more people who have not been infected by the virus before they can submit data to regulators.
The Phase III trial for the recombinant adjuvanted Covid-19 vaccine recruited most participants in the third quarter, coinciding with a significant increase in the number of people infected globally due to the Delta variant, it said.
"To provide the necessary data to regulatory authorities for the booster vaccine submission, the trial will continue to accrue the number of events needed for analysis, with results expected in Q1, 2022."
No safety concerns were identified.
This is the latest delay for the vaccine's development, putting the companies further behind rivals in the race for Covid-19 shots.
Alliance Healthcare UK has won a 'special achievement' award for its work during the Covid-19 pandemic at the Logistics UK Awards 2021.
The pharmaceutical wholesaler and it's subsidiary, Alloga UK - a specialist provider of supply chain solutions for healthcare manufacturers - received the 'Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Response to Covid' at an event held in central London on Thursday, December 9, 2021 - beating off stiff competition from a number of high profile challengers.
Alliance Healthcare's new managing director Marie Evans said: "I am delighted that our business and team of 6,000 colleagues have been recognised at this level for our contribution to the fight against Covid-19. Our main aim over this unprecedented period is to support the NHS, pharmacy and all UK patients, and this award is true recognition for all of that hard work and dedication."
The special award category was open to an individual or organization that demonstrated an outstanding response to the pandemic in 2020 within the logistics sector and included seven other nominees including the likes of National Highways, Hermes UK and Yodel.
Community pharmacies played a central role in the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering more than 22 million jabs in the past 12 months.
Besides delivering millions of jabs, latest figures from NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) revealed a 50 per cent increase in the number of pharmacies
delivering Covid boosters compared from October 2021 to January 2022.
NHSE&I released the data on Friday (January 14) to thank community pharmacy teams for their work during the crisis time.
Lauding the efforts made by community pharmacy teams during the pandemic, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) director of NHS Services Alastair Buxton said: "Just over a year ago we were fighting for Government recognition of the part community pharmacy could play in administering Covid vaccines, so a year later it is great to see the efforts of the pharmacy vaccination sites being praised by NHSE&I, with recognition of the significant role they have played in the overall programme.
Pfizer's oral Covid-19 therapy will be evaluated as a potential treatment for patients hospitalised with the illness in a major British trial, scientists said on Monday, as cases rise in some parts of the world.
The world's largest randomised study of potential medicines for Covid-19, dubbed the RECOVERY trial, will assess Paxlovid across hospitals in Britain, which has already approved the drug for early-stage treatment.
"Paxlovid is a promising oral antiviral drug but we don't know if it can improve survival of patients with severe Covid-19," said Peter Horby, a professor at the University of Oxford and joint chief investigator of the RECOVERY trial.
The scientists said they aim to mainly find whether Pfizer's Paxlovid reduces the risk of death among patients admitted to hospitals with Covid-19.
British drugmaker AstraZeneca says it's confident that its new version of COVID-19 antibody treatment could protect immunocompromised patients against all
known virus variants.
Laboratory studies show the antibody, called AZD3152, neutralises all known variants of COVID-19 and AstraZeneca has support from regulators to make the treatment
available by the end of this year, the company's vaccines head Iskra Reic said on Tuesday (April 18).
AstraZeneca plans, pending more positive data and regulatory approval, to make the antibody available by the end of 2023.
These types of therapies are most needed for people with compromised immune systems, either because of underlying conditions or because they are undergoing immune
suppressing treatments. They account for nearly 2% of the global population.
AstraZeneca's AZD3152, it new COVID-19 antibody, was acquired through a $157 million deal last year with British biotech start-up RQ Bio.
The British drugmaker will likely make future investments like its current partnerships with RQ Bio but did not have any deals to announce, said Reic, a long-time
AstraZeneca executive who has led the company's vaccines and immune therapies unit since it was formed in late 2021, during the pandemic.
Prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday (January 19) that restrictions re-imposed in England last month would be lifted by from next Thursday (January 27).
In the latest development, the government has decided to end the guidance on working from home, asking employers to make adequate arrangements to return safely to work.
From the start of next Thursday, mandatory certification based on vaccines and tests will end, however, organisations can still choose to use the NHS Covid Pass voluntarily.
Besides, the legal mandate to wear face masks will go away from next week.
Making a statement to the House of Commons on Covid-19, he said that infection levels are falling in England mainly because of the country's "extraordinary booster campaign".
He noted more than 36 million Covid-19 booster jabs had been delivered, with over 90 percent of over-60s now given a third dose.
"Our scientists believe it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally," Johnson added, while cautioning "the pandemic is not over".
"I encourage everyone across the country to continue with all the cautious behaviours that we know help to keep each everybody safe."
A fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine is not needed at present, as latest data shows first booster provides high levels of protection against Omicron variant among older adults, says the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
After analysing latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), JCVI said: "There is no immediate need to introduce a second booster dose, or fourth jab,
to the most vulnerable".
Data from UKSHA revealed that single booster dose provides around 90 per cent protection against hospitalisation to those aged 65 and over, even after three months of jab.
However, protection against mild symptomatic infection is short-lived and drops to around 30 per cent by about three months.
The study, which looked at booster doses in those aged over 65, showed that with two vaccine doses, protection against the infection drops to around 70 per cent after three months and to 50 per cent after six months.
England won't have any new Covid-19 restrictions before the end of 2021, health secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday (December 27) whilst the government awaits more evidence on whether the NHS can cope with high infection rates in the new year.
"There will be no further measures before the new year," Javid told reporters, adding: "When we get into the new year, of course we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures."
He said that the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus now accounted for around 90 per cent of cases across England and urged people to celebrate New Year
cautiously.
The government's attention is focused on the number of patients being hospitalised with Omicron after early data last week suggested the variant carried a lower
risk of admission.
The latest data showed the number of patients in hospital in England with Covid-19 was its highest since March, at 8,474, but a long way off peaks above 34,000 in January.
A combination of factors, including Britain's vaccination programme, the lag between infections and hospitalisations and the potentially less harmful effects of the Omicron variant have all been put forward by health experts as possible explanations for lower numbers.
As the deadline for the frontline healthcare workers to get fully vaccinated approaches, tens of thousands of NHS staff who have not yet taken the Covid-19
vaccine face termination in just a fortnight.
Although it is estimated that the majority of NHS staff have been fully jabbed, health and social care providers in England will soon be needed to ensure that all those working in areas regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before the April 1, 2022.
Those who are exempted from taking the vaccination do not fall under this purview.
According to the NHS England guidance around Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD) for healthcare workers, all frontline staff must have had both the doses by April 1, meaning that by February 3 the first must have been administered and the second by March 31.
All unvaccinated frontline workers will be called into formal meetings from February 4 and given a warning of dismissal. Notices will then be issued from that day, with March 31 marking the end of the notice period
There is a realistic possibility of large waves of Covid-19 infection in the future in Britain and such waves might even be considered likely, epidemiologists who model the Covid-19 pandemic to inform government advice have said.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has ditched legal restrictions in England, saying that, while the pandemic was not over, Britain needs to learn to live with Covid.
The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (SPI-M-O) said the emergence of new viral variants was the biggest unknown factor in the medium-to-long term, along with waning population immunity and changes in mixing patterns.
"Large future waves of infection that need active management to prevent detrimental pressure on the health and care sector are, at least, a realistic possibility (high confidence) or likely (medium confidence)," SPI-M-O said in a consensus statement published on Friday.
Prime minister Boris Johnson received his Covid-19 booster shot on Thursday (December 2) and urged others to follow suit to help the country fend off the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Wearing a mask, Johnson briefly chatted to staff and others queuing for their shots at the vaccination centre in central London, asking them if they were there to receive a booster dose and thanking them for attending.
Johnson, who said it could "have gone either way" when he was treated in hospital for Covid last year, was later filmed rolling up his shirt sleeve and receiving his shot.
"Fantastic. Thank you so much," he said to the nurse, before receiving a badge that said "I've boosted my immunity".
Health and social care workers in England, including those working in community pharmacy, will no longer have to have a Covid jab as a condition of employment from later this month, the government said on Tuesday (March 1).
The government had announced on January 31 that it intended to revoke the regulations that made vaccination compulsory, subject to the results of a public consultation.
The decision was taken because the Omicron strain of the virus was less severe than the Delta variant, and due to high rates of vaccination of people in the UK.
Health secretary Sajid Javid told parliament in a written statement that more than 90,000 health and social care workers and members of the public responded to the consultation.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer leader has tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday (January 5).
Starmer had been due to face prime minister Boris Johnson at a question and answer session in parliament later today. His deputy, Angela Rayner, will take his place, the spokesperson added.
Starmer had tested positive for Covid-19 last October and self-isolated four times after coming into contact with other positive cases on several occasions.
The prevalence of Covid-19 infections in England rose to around one in 60 people in the week ending November 27, the Office for National Statistics said today (December 03), led higher by the dominant Delta variant rather than the newly identified Omicron.
The prevalence was up from one in 65 reported the previous week, the ONS said, adding that 99 per cent of all coronavirus infections which were sequenced were
genetically compatible with the Delta variant.
"To date, we have not identified any infections compatible with the new Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) among our survey participants," the ONS said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced travel restrictions and some mask mandates, with a view to slowing the spread of Omicron while work is undertaken to
understand it better.
There have been 42 confirmed cases of the variant in Britain, which has mutations consistent with reduced vaccine efficacy.
The UK's Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said mistakes at a testing laboratory led to misreporting of tens of thousands of positive COVID-19 cases as negative
and may have resulted in the deaths of about 20 people.
Britain has one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world, with more than 177,000 deaths since the pandemic started in 2020.
Many experts have said the contact tracing programme fell well short of the "world-beating" system the government had promised.
An investigation by the government agency responsible for responding to public health emergencies said the Immensa laboratory in central England was found to have
misreported around 39,000 tests as negative when they should have been positive between September 2 and October 12 last year.
Pharmadoctor, a company which provides clinical service packages to pharmacists, has announced the launch of the UK's first private Covid vaccination
service via its nationwide network of partner community pharmacies.
For the first time, people who are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine (those aged 12 years and over) will be able to get the shots from their local independent
pharmacy by paying as little as £45 per jab, the company said.
The delivery of the new service is expected to start by 1st April at the latest by "thousands of pharmacists" using the Pharmadoctor eTool.
To encourage pharmacists to sign up early to provide the service, the company is offering its package at half-price until 31st March.
AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AAH) has exceeded the milestone of delivering over 70 million COVID-19 vaccination doses across England, since it was awarded a
contract in December 2020.
In addition, AAH has delivered over 100 million ancillary items to more than 3,000 healthcare providers.
David Bound, chief executive officer of AAH, said: "This is a huge milestone for AAH as we work tirelessly to support our communities. It's also a ringing
endorsement of our delivery drivers, warehouse operatives, and specialist logistics teams and the determination, dedication, and passion they continue to show
throughout this extraordinary period."
The vaccination programme was also recognized by the Supply Chain Excellence Awards.
Chris Emmott, senior project lead - Supply Chain, commented: "I'm incredibly proud that AAH was chosen for this job, particularly as we had the skills, the
experience, and a great team to help facilitate the needs of the country. To get ready for a project like this, everybody's worked very long hours, they've
worked weekends to get everything ready.
Moderna has joined one of the UK's leading pharmaceutical industry body, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) to expand its footprint and
investment in the UK.
The biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines will strengthen its footprint with the new state-of-the-art vaccine research,
development and manufacturing facility in the UK. It will create valuable new jobs and build on the strength of the UK's life sciences ecosystem.
The company is best known for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now developing a range of mRNA-based vaccines for a number of conditions.
The ABPI represents companies of all sizes who invest in discovering the medicines of the future, including some of the world's largest, most innovative, and most
successful pharmaceutical firms.
Darius Hughes, UK General Manager, Moderna, said: "We are delighted to join the ABPI - this alliance is an important part of our long-term commitment to the UK and
supports the wider significant investments in manufacturing, research and development we are making in this country.