Many thanks to all the people who agreed to be interviewed for this documentary. Without clinical trial volunteers we would have no new medicines. I hope the programme gives a balanced view of the benefits and limits of the new drugs against Alzheimer’s.
Fake news has been circulating on social media that the first volunteer in the Oxford vaccine trial has died. This is not true! I spent several minutes this morning chatting with Elisa Granato via Skype. She is very much alive and told me she is feeling “absolutely fine”
Breaking: Novavax Covid vaccine shows 89% efficacy in UK trials. Half the cases on the trial were the new ‘Kent’variant so this is first vaccine to show it is effective against the new more contagious variant
A flight carrying 600,000 doses of the Oxford/AZ vaccine has landed in Ghana. It's the first delivery under the global Covid vaccine sharing scheme COVAX. In a joint statement WHO/UNICEF called it a 'momentous occasion'. The doses were produced by the Serum Institute of India
Prof John Edmunds from LSHTM and a SAGE advisor says 8,000 current infections a day in community is high and many scientists would have preferred incidence down to lower levels before we relax lockdown measures.
Over 95% of people aged 60+ have had a first dose of Covid vaccine in England. That is simply stunning. Uptake way beyond expectations. A pleasure to give some positive statistics on
#bbcnewsten
BREAKING: Around 1.4m people in the UK had coronavirus last week according to the latest ONS survey. That’s up 43% from around 930,000 the week before. ONS says it’s likely caused by the more contagious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
A special report from
@UCLH
intensive care unit. The reality of coronavirus and it’s impact on patients and staff. A vitally important message for us all - social distancing really will save lives.
Congratulations to
@BBCFergusWalsh
who’s been appointed as the BBC’s Medical Editor. This is in recognition of his insight & expertise & the scale & importance of the Covid-19 story which will continue to affect our audiences for many months & years to come.
📸
@sukidhanda
BREAKING: Trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the United States, Chile and Peru have shown it is safe and highly effective. It was 79% effective against symptomatic Covid and 100% effective against serious disease
There are now more Covid-19 patients in hospital in England than on the day the lockdown was introduced in March. 3,451 patients now compared to 3,097 on 23rd March.
Stunning results from UK Recovery trial show that dexamethasone, a cheap and widely available steroid, cuts risk of death in ventilated Covid patients by a third
My profound thanks to all the staff
@uclh
for allowing me and
@adamwalkertv
to show the reality of coronavirus on intensive care. Their resilience and professionalism in the midst of this crisis is humbling. My thoughts are with the patients and their families
#bbcnewsten
BREAKING: A combination of 2 drugs dexamethasone & tocilizumab can reduce deaths of Covid patients on oxygen by between about 1/3 & 1/2. Latest results from the UK RECOVERY - the world's biggest Covid trial. Vaccines crucial, but treatments are hugely important too
The head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Prof Andrew Pollard, who is leading the trial said “this sort of fake news could damage our ability to tackle a pandemic. We can’t let that happen.”
Elisa said she was going to “chill and enjoy the nice weather today”. She has a group chat with her family and has reassured them in case they see reports of her death. She also thanked people for their positive messages online
Public Health England has approved an antibody test made by Roche, which might now be used to help determine how many people in UK has been infected with coronavirus.
AstraZeneca has published updated results for its US Covid vaccine trials. Vaccine efficacy 76% against symptomatic infection (down from 79%). Among over 65s efficacy 85% (up from 80%). Efficacy against severe disease 100% (unchanged).
AstraZeneca says it aims to have a ‘next generation’ Covid vaccine ready for use in the autumn which will incorporate some of the mutated variants of concern. Work well underway to design new vaccine structure at Oxford.
Our thanks to all of you. And in case anyone is wondering we donated PPE to the hospital so that we would not deplete their precious resources
@UCLH
@adamwalkertv
@paulroyall
@BBCNews
The remarkable care shown by our intensive care staff is top story on
@bbcnews
tonight. Thank you to our incredibly talented and courageous staff – we are so proud of you all. Thanks also to
@BBCFergusWalsh
for sharing their story with the nation.
#OneTeam
Breaking news: the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine has been approved for use in the UK by the regulator the MHRA. This will allow a dramatic escalation of immunisation.
“Between 80 and 90% of the patients we have are unvaccinated” - London intensive care consultant
@rupert_pearse
tells
@BBCr4today
about Covid cases in ICU
Breaking: Pfizer-BioNTech announce 100% efficacy of Covid vaccine in 12-15 year olds. Of 2,260 volunteers there were 18 cases of Covid, all in the placebo group. Strong antibody response and mild side effects. More detail soon
@BBCNews
Links to the article were posted in a number of Facebook groups which oppose vaccination. The claim has circulated in several languages. Some of the posts have now been removed.
I’m proud to call
@CliveMyrieBBC
a colleague. His report on
#bbcnewssix
and
#bbcnewsten
is astonishing. Ten days at Royal London Hospital on the Covid frontline. More to come later this week. Masterly filming and production too.
The effect of coronavirus on Liverpool's hospitals, the city with more Covid patients than anywhere in the UK. My online piece is here. The extended TV report at Ten
#bbcnewsten
My thanks to all the staff & especially the patients and their families.
He says test and trace won’t be able to push R below 1 so that would mean continuing with 8k cases a day and with 1% fatality = 80 deaths a day. Lifting the lockdown is a political decision says Edmunds and will mean we keep the incidence at the current level
UK government has signed deals for 90m doses of coronavirus vaccine from foreign companies. 30m will come from BioNtech/Pfizer a German/US partnership and 60m from Valneva a French firm. That will be manufactured in Scotland
Novak Djokovic says he doesn’t have enough information about the vaccine. After 10 billion+ doses administered there is plenty out there. And there’s not just one vaccine against Covid, there are several, that use very different technologies
First dose done. Thanks to all at the Harlequins RFC vaccination centre and to the NHS. And of course thanks to all the scientists, medical staff and volunteers involved in developing & trialling the vaccines. And to my camera crew Raeph...piece coming later this week
The risk of a rare clot after the AZ vaccine is put at around 1 in 100,000 for those in their 20s. That’s roughly the same average risk people of that age face every 3 months of dying in a road accident (source: Winton Centre)
@d_spiegel
Worth stressing that MHRA, EMA and WHO all say vaccination with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine should continue. Blood clot rate no higher - indeed seems lower - in those getting the jab compared to general population
Novavax Covid vaccine will be entirely produced in UK, after GSK agreed to handle the bottling ‘fill-finish’ element at its Barnard Castle facility in Co Durham. The vaccine will be produced in Stockton-on-Tees. 60m doses have been pre-ordered but it is not yet approved by MHRA
Inside intensive care at University College Hospital in London as medics treat patients with coronavirus. Special report by
@BBCFergusWalsh
and Adam Walker. An extraordinary and very powerful report.
@paulroyall
#bbcnewssix
#bbcnewsten
This is quite a turnaround for ibuprofen from early in the pandemic when there were concerns it might be bad for those with mild symptoms. Now it’s being trialled in hospital patients to see if it can help ease breathing problems
It’s been an extraordinary year of progress for science. Vaccines give us the route out of the pandemic. Our report on
#bbcnewsten
My thanks to
@robtaylortv
& producer Nicki Stiastny. And yes I got the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Breaking: JCVI has advised additional booster dose of Covid vaccine for over 75s and immunosuppressed this spring with a further dose in the autumn for a wider group of population. UK wide decision
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses 21 days apart. The 90+% protection has been measured a week after the second dose in the trials. So that’s 4 weeks from first dose. There will be some protection from first dose.
Long acting Covid antibody treatment Evusheld will not be available on NHS after Dept of Health says there’s insufficient data on how long it protects against Omicron. NICE has been asked to review Evusheld but decision not due til April 2023. Evusheld sold in over 30 countries
A privilege to be able to report again from ICU
@uclh
The online version is here but my TV report will be on
#bbcnewsten
Thanks to all the staff & patients. Very clear to me that the NHS is under intense pressure from Covid.
Two further patients in England have tested positive for Covid-19. The infection was passed on in Italy and Tenerife. Both are in hospital- one in Liverpool, the other London. Total coronavirus positive tests in UK now 15
AstraZeneca tell me they have already delivered 4 million vials of their AZ/Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine to the UK government. The company says there are ‘millions more’ frozen doses ready to go.
This is not the same as the 3.5 million finger prick blood tests bought by the government which proved to be unreliable. This requires a blood test so would need to be done by a health professional and then sent to a lab
BREAKING: Booster Covid vaccines to be extended to 18-39 year olds in UK after JCVI recommendation. Minimum gap after 2nd dose reduced to 3 months. Immunosuppressed to be offered 4th (booster) dose. 12-15 year olds to get second dose.
ICYMI: My report from inside intensive care at University College Hospital in London. Staff there are under greater pressure than ever as COVID admissions keep rising.
#bbcnewsten
via
@YouTube
The intensive care unit at UCH hospital in London is still busy caring for Covid-19 patients. This disease has not gone away and extreme care will be needed when easing lockdown measures. My full report coming up on
#bbcnewsten
@adamwalkertv
@uclh
The numbers have not moved much and it begs the question why a public rebuke was issued by independent scientists on the DSMB which could be read as implying AZ had issued misleading results on Monday.
For anyone interested in TV technology, my live on
#bbcnewssix
from home used the LU Smart app and was all done on an iPhone 12 Pro. Huge thanks to
@_danmcmillan
for technical support and to the studio gallery
@jonnywhitaker
This is a breakthrough which has been decades in the making. I well remember filming malaria vaccine trials in Ghana 15 years ago. Even though the GSK vaccine is only partially effective, it should save many lives. My report on
#bbcnewssix
#bbcnewsten
Sincere apologies to cabin crew. I know they do a lot more than ‘serve food’ and play a vital role in all aspects of a flight. I really didn’t mean to minimise or be dismissive of them on Breakfast. I’d be very happy to be immunised by anyone who’s had the training.
The Covid vaccine rollout is going superbly in the UK. It would be tragic if vaccine hesitancy increased. All the vaccine regulators say immunisation with the Ox-AZ jab should continue
When coronavirus cases were at the same level as now in mid December there were 400+ COVID related deaths a day. Now the 7 day average is 18 deaths. That’s largely due to the vaccine - better treatment also playing a part.
The RNIB has given this advice: “Any sudden change in vision should be taken seriously and we would recommend seeking immediate medical advice from an optometrist or 111. If your vision is in any way compromised we would not advise attempting to drive.”
SAGE documents just released show they recommended going much further than the PM has gone today back on 21st September with a raft of measures including a two week ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown
If you want to know more about the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, please watch at 9.05pm on BBC1 or later on iPlayer
@BBCPanorama
@BBCNews
It’s a fascinating story of scientific endeavour.
Potentially very important news on the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Hopes it could cut transmission. Also strong efficacy of 76% from one dose after three weeks which lasts for three months - strongly supporting UK policy of a 12 week gap between jabs
Unclear what exact date next week the need for Day 2 PCR test & self-isolation will come into effect. Downing Street says full details will be set out for this & other regulations early next week.
It seems like lots and lots of people reckon they had coronavirus in December in the UK. I will investigate. Meanwhile, any researchers out there who can help and are doing retrospective studies, please get in touch
Rise in level of coronavirus antibodies among adults in UK, according to figures from ONS up to 17 May. England 80% (76%) Scotland 73% (69%) Wales 83% (77%), 80% (75%) N Ireland - all up from previous week in brackets
Amidst some gloomy stuff in PHE technical briefing on increased risk of hospitalisation from Delta B.1.617.2 variant, the SIREN study of double vaccinated health workers shows little sign of their immune defences being breached
Breaking: In the over 80s, data suggest that a single dose of either Pfizer or Oxford AZ vaccine is more than 80% effective at preventing hospitalisation, around 3 to 4 weeks after the jab.
Happy to finally get my hands on these. Thanks to the
@mjauk
and the brilliant teams at
@BBCPanorama
and
@BBCNews
The documentary ‘Race for a Vaccine’ is still on iPlayer - though a lots happened since December!
Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance will speak at 11am and share possible scenarios for UK in coming months. Likely to be focus on Spain and France and what extra measures could slow increase in cases here.