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Antibody cocktail drugs that offered ‘great hope’ in treating Covid-19 are ineffective against worrying new variants of the virus, research suggests. Lab tests found the experimental treatments, known as monoclonal antibodies, failed to neutralise strains which emerged in Kent, South Africa and Brazil. The drugs are derived from cloning a single antibody, a virus-fighting protein, found … Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ‘all vaccines are welcome’ today as she praised Russia’s Sputnik V jab. ‘Every vaccine is welcome in the European Union,’ Merkel said in an interview with German broadcaster ARD. ‘Today we have read good data for the Russian vaccine too’. Merkel also told ARD she had recently spoken to Russian … Read more
At 75, Dolly Parton is eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but the country star says she isn’t in a rush to get the inoculation. The music icon, despite donating $1 million to vaccine development last year, says she wants to wait until ‘more people get theirs’ before she makes her appointment. Speaking to AP, … Read more
Russia’s controversial coronavirus vaccine is 92 per cent effective at blocking symptomatic illness, early trial results suggest Russia’s controversial coronavirus vaccine is 92 per cent effective at blocking symptomatic illness, trial results suggest. Just 16 out of 16,500 people given the two-dose jab – dubbed Sputnik V – developed symptoms, while no-one died from the disease … Read more
Britain could be back to something close to pre-coronavirus life as soon as the summer thanks to the UK’s vaccine juggernaut, a top scientist said today. Professor Mike Tildesley, an infectious disease expert and member of the Sage advisory panel, said the jab could introduce huge changes within months if the rollout continues apace. And … Read more
The UK could send spare coronavirus vaccines to Ireland after the EU humiliatingly backed down in the bitter row over threat to British supplies. The success of the drive to secure jabs could mean that by the summer stocks can be shared with other countries – as Boris Johnson warned the pandemic cannot be tackled … Read more
The EU has agreed to reset its relations with Northern Ireland ‘to put the people first’ after it backed down from its decision to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, according to Michael Gove. The Cabinet Office minister said the union had ‘recognised they made a mistake’ in pursuing Article 16 – which … Read more
The EU was accused of ‘cocking up big time’ last night after announcing controls to stop vaccine exports reaching the UK through Northern Ireland – only to abruptly backtrack following widespread condemnation. Politicians in London, Dublin and Belfast rounded on Brussels for unilaterally overriding part of the Brexit deal to effectively create a hard border … Read more
The EU has sensationally backed down over its plans to impose Covid vaccine controls on Northern Ireland after the proposals were met with a strong and united backlash from UK politicians. EU chiefs had been accused of an ‘incredible act of hostility’ after announcing controls on the export of jabs to the UK, including Northern Ireland. … Read more
Hundreds of people raced to clinics in Washington state for their chance to get the coronavirus vaccine after a freezer failure put thousands of doses at risk of spoiling. Around 8.50pm on Thursday, an alarm went off on a freezer unit holding 1,650 doses of the Moderna vaccine at Kaiser Permanente in Seattle, which – … Read more