Don’t be in any doubt – the development of a highly effective vaccine for Covid-19 in less than a year is an extraordinary scientific achievement, perhaps the greatest of my lifetime. I’d put it on a par with Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928. It really is that transformative. And that’s because the implications … Read more
Welsh pubs and breweries have today demanded to see ‘scientific evidence’ that coronavirus is being spread in pubs and restaurants. Beleaguered landlords are facing yet another blow as Wales is plunged into lockdown again, just weeks after restrictions were lifted. But now bosses have issued rallying cry and want the Welsh government to provide ‘proof’ … Read more
Conservatives are more likely to put anecdotal experience and empirical evidence on equal footing, according to a recent study. Researchers presented nearly 1,000 participants with articles debunking popular theories on gambling, new age medicine and personality tests. Although all the articles included scientific experts disproving the theory, they also included dissenting opinions from non-experts who … Read more
Professor Andrew Hayward, an infectious diseases expert at University College London, said he had a ‘high degree of certainty’ thousands of unnecessary Covid-19 deaths would occur as a consequence of not imposing a circuit breaker lockdown Thousands of coronavirus deaths in the coming weeks could have been prevented if ministers bowed to pressure for a … Read more
University College London’s Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of SAGE, said keeping secondary schools open could mean extending the national lockdown beyond a month Keeping secondary schools open during Britain’s second lockdown could keep the country cooped up at home for longer than 28 days, another government scientific adviser warned today. Studies so far suggest … Read more
French lockdown restrictions due to come into force Friday morning at 00:01am Emmanuel Macron’s target of slashing France’s coronavirus infections to 5,000 a day is impossible to achieve in the month-long lockdown he announced last night, his top scientific adviser said today. Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy said France would ‘need more time’ to bring infections down … Read more
Conflict of interest row as it emerges Chief Scientific Officer Sir Patrick Vallance has £600,000 of shares in vaccine maker contracted to make UK’s coronavirus jabs Sir Patrick was president of multinationals drugs giant GSK from 2012 to 2018 Chief Scientific Adviser holds a deferred bonus of 43,111 shares worth £600,000 He has already cashed in … Read more
Driving into work at 7.30 on Monday morning along the M4, I was delighted to find myself stuck in a traffic jam. After the preternaturally quiet motorways and half-empty rail carriages of recent months, gridlock felt like welcome normality. Nobody loves commuting, but for a brief moment it seemed the rush hour and the bustling, … Read more
‘Stop panicking and scrap the rule of six’: Experts warn Boris Johnson’s ‘disturbing decision’ to limit gatherings ‘with no scientific evidence’ could have ‘major social consequences’ Rule of six shows ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ of Covid Britain, experts say Oxford’s Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine experts criticise new legislation Another 3,330 cases of coronavirus were recorded in the … Read more
Covid-19 survivors shouldn’t have to self-isolate if they develop symptoms of the disease because they aren’t likely to be infectious, government scientific advisers suggest Sage studied evidence which found it’s likely survivors can’t be infected again But admitted it is unclear how long this coronavirus ‘immunity’ would last for Experts dismissed idea of immunity passports, … Read more