UK coronavirus live: Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine offers protection against new variants, study suggests

A broader strategy of suppression is needed while vaccines are rolled out, according to Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University and an advisor to the Scottish government.

There are questions about when and if the vaccines can be given to children, how long it will take before herd immunity is achieved and other issues, she told Sky News.

We were fortunate that the vaccines appeared to work against the mutations which had recently emerged, but she cautioned that there could be one emerging elsewhere which could be more challenging. A strategy of suppression was crucial against this backdrop.

In Wales, the decision to enter lockdown before Christmas has led to a drop in coronavirus transmission rates, according to First Minister Mark Drakeford.

But that it has not yet translated into fewer seriously ill people being admitted to hospital.

He told BBC Radio Wales this morning: “The numbers (of transmissions) have fallen compared to where we were before Christmas, so we’re seeing the impact of the measures that we have taken already.

“The positivity rate in Wales has been falling over the last week. There are some positive signs that the huge collective effort that we are making is making a difference.

The numbers are still “stubbornly high,” he added, and authorities were not yet seeing an impact of those falls feeding into the number of people being admitted to hospital.

My colleague Steve Morris reported earlier on how additional safety measures may be introduced in Welsh shops and workplaces to try to bring Covid-19 under control as the nationwide lockdown was extended for at least another three weeks and teachers were told remote learning was likely to continue until the February half-term.

Welsh ministers were reviewing whether supermarkets and other retailers needed to put further measures in place to protect shoppers and what else employers needed to do to make workplaces safer and help people work from home.

There’s some very encouraging news from new research suggesting that the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech protects against two new mutant variants that are causing rapid spread across the UK.

The pharmaceutical giant and researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch carried out lab tests on the strains, one of which was found in the UK while the other originated in South Africa.

The variants contain mutations including N501Y, an alteration in the spike protein of the virus, which is a target for vaccines.
In the new study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, blood samples were taken from 20 people who received the Pfizer vaccine.

Laboratory studies found that the samples had neutralising levels of antibodies which appeared to work against the new strains.

The third lockdown in England was in response to the rapid spread of the mutant strain found in the South East, which has now spread to other parts of the UK.

Pfizer has now tested 16 different mutations in the strains and none of them have had any significant impact on how the vaccine works.
However, further studies are planned on other mutations.

On the new requirements for arrivals to the UK, the Heathrow airport chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, has said the government should move to a “global standard” for pre-departure testing.

He told Sky News: “Having people taking a test three days before they are due to fly, self-isolating in their home country, and then taking a second test at the airport to confirm that they don’t have Covid before getting on the plane, and then being able to travel freely afterwards.

“Now is not the time to do that – we are facing a new threat with these new variants from South Africa and here in the UK, so we need a much tighter regime, but there has to be a plan put together now for what comes next.”

Data from a study run by King’s College London suggests there are 69,958 daily new symptomatic cases of coronavirus in the UK on average, a 27% rise on a week ago.

The study also put the current UK “R” value – which represents how many people an infected person will pass the virus on to on average – at 1.2.

Regional R values are 1.1 in England, 1 in Wales and 1.3 in Scotland.

“In England, daily new cases continue to rise slowly but the numbers are being driven by recent big increases in London, south-east and east of England,” according to the study authors.

Tim Spector, the lead scientist on the study, said: “The UK is now worryingly at 70,000 new daily cases and around 800,000 infected individuals, and the worst-hit areas continue to be Wales, London and the south-east.

“One in 42 people in London has symptomatic Covid now, so those living in the capital must take care. The good news is that we are now seeing new cases in London coming down slightly.”

Fears that Covid vaccines will not work against the new South African Covid variant have prompted the introduction of testing for new arrivals into England and Scotland from abroad, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has said.

Outlining the new testing regime, he said: “This is an extra check and we’re doing this now because there are these variants that we’re very keen to keep out of the country, like the South African variant, for example.

“There are the concerns about the South African one in particular, about how effective the vaccine would be against it, so we simply cannot take chances. So today because of that variant it has become much more urgent.”

Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of developments in the UK today amid increasingly grave concerns about the NHS becoming overwhelmed and a sprint to roll out vaccines against the backdrop of rising infections.

Just when you may have felt that we didn’t have enough to worry about, the transport minister, Grant Shapps, this morning spelled out the very real concerns which he said were held in government circles about the ability of the new South African variant to impact on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

It’s one of the driving factors behind measures requiring international travellers to show a negative Covid-19 test before being allowed into the UK. Anyone arriving by air, rail or sea will have to take a test before their departure in measures that will be introduced next week.

Shapps told the BBC this morning:

The reason for doing it now is that we have got a very deep concern about the South African and other mutations of this virus and what we don’t want is to be in a position where the vaccines are rendered less useful by having different variations here.

My colleague Gwyn Topham has a story here on the new measures.

Among other news developments happening or on the way:

• The Office for National Statistics will publish its weekly coronavirus social impacts survey, followed at noon by the weekly UK Covid-19 infection survey. Other releases include details of the latest ‘R’ number and papers from the government’s Sage advisory panel.

• Lockdown restrictions in Wales will be strengthened in “key areas” to try to halt the spread of the new coronavirus variant, the country’s first minister has announced. There is a briefing at noon.

• A third Covid vaccine is likely to be approved for use in Britain next week but it will not be available until April because the UK is no longer part of the EU.

I’ll be bringing you coverage of those developments and more. For any news tips you can email me or find me on twitter at @BenQuinn75