Month: November 2021

PA Media Booster jabs will be offered to everyone who is eligible by the end of January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. All adults will be offered a booster jab three months after their second dose of the vaccine. Mr Johnson said jabs would be prioritised according to age, with the NHS working down

Getty Images Face coverings have become mandatory again on public transport and shops in England in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. People arriving in the UK from abroad will now also have to take a PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result. It comes after 11

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Covid booster jabs should be offered to all over-18s to help stop a potential wave driven by the new variant Omicron, UK government advisers say. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation also said the minimum gap

Getty Images The UK’s vaccine advisory body is set to announce later if it will back an expansion of the Covid booster scheme. A third case of the Omicron variant has been found in the UK, and Number 10 has set out measures to contain it. Prof Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A third case of the Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in the UK, the Health Security Agency has said. The person is no longer in the UK but had visited Westminster in London. It comes after

Reuters In the past week a heavily mutated Covid variant has been identified, rapidly labelled a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization. It is named Omicron and been detected in countries including the UK. It is a rapidly evolving situation. Omicron’s genetic profile has raised concerns, but there’s a shortage of real-world data

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on public transport in England from next week under a raft of measures to target the new Covid variant, Omicron, the PM has said. PCR tests for everyone

Reuters The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be “of concern” and named it Omicron. It said the variant had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested a possible increased risk of reinfection. It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has

Getty Images More countries are tightening their travel restrictions after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in South Africa earlier this week. The UK, Singapore and Japan are among those rushing in stricter quarantine measures and banning flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries. The EU is proposing to ban flights from the region

PA Media Travellers arriving in England from several southern African countries will have to quarantine amid warnings over a new coronavirus variant. UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said from 12:00 GMT on Friday six countries would be added to the red list, with flights being temporarily banned. One expert described the variant, known as B.1.1.529,

PA Media The UK and France have held “positive” talks on tackling trafficking following the deaths of 27 people in the Channel, a government source has told the BBC. British officials are travelling to France later on Thursday to meet their equivalents and talk about how they can better work together. Home Secretary Priti Patel

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The UK and France will keep “all options on the table” as they try to stop migrants crossing the Channel. The UK prime minister and French president said trafficking gangs were risking lives, after 27 people died

Reuters A number of migrants headed for the UK have drowned in the Channel near Calais after their boat sank. French prime minister Jean Castex said the shipwreck was a “tragedy”, adding those who died were victims of “criminal smugglers”. Police say 27 people have died, AFP news agency has reported. Prime Minister Boris Johnson

FamilyHandout A campaign by PC Andrew Harper’s widow to give mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency service workers has been backed by the government. Newly-married PC Harper was 28 when he was dragged to his death by a getaway car in August 2019. Three teenagers were jailed for manslaughter. The Ministry of Justice

Getty Images People in Northern Ireland are being urged by Stormont ministers to work from home “where possible” in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. Current advice already states that people should work from home where they can but ministers said they were “strengthening” that message. It follows an executive meeting about how

Getty Images MPs will debate new details of the government’s social care cap later, which charities have warned will hit poorer people the hardest. The government published an amendment to its plans last week, saying support payments from councils would not count towards the £86,000 limit on personal care costs. Labour said it was a