PM calls for booster jab take-up as cases exceed 50,000

1. With coronavirus case numbers high, people must go and take up their booster jab, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says
2. It's offered to frontline medical staff, those over-50 and the clinically vulnerable across the UK
3. His comments come as the number of new coronavirus cases recorded in the UK tops 50,000 for the first time since July
4. Earlier, Health Minister Edward Argar acknowledged the NHS is under huge pressure but said it's sustainable
5. But doctors say an unacceptable level of Covid cases means ministers should trigger their Plan B for the pandemic this winter
6. The British Medical Association says the government is being "wilfully negligent" for not reimposing Covid rules such as mandatory face masks
7. The pandemic will last a year longer than it needs to because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need, the WHO says

Why is the pandemic set to last longer?

Naomi Grimley

Global affairs correspondent

AFP

Turning to the situation more widely across the world, the Covid pandemic will "go on for a year longer than it needs to" because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Dr Bruce Aylward, senior leader at the WHO, said it meant the Covid crisis could "easily drag on deep into 2022".

Less than 5% of Africa's population have been vaccinated, compared to 40% on most other continents.

The UK has delivered more than 10 million vaccines to countries in need.

It has pledged a total of 100 million.

Read more here.

Pressure on the NHS manageable - minister

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, UK Health Minister Edward Argar says “now is not the right moment to look to trigger Plan B”.

He's talking about the restrictions the government can use to try to stop the spread of infection. You can read our explainer on what Plan B involves here.

In response to the British Medical Association accusing ministers of taking “their foot off the brake” and being “wilfully negligent”, in its tackling of the pandemic as cases in the UK rise, Edward Argar says the NHS is not being put “under unsustainable pressure”.

He adds that “we are seeing hospitalisation and deaths rising, but at a much lower rate” and the current situation is “manageable”.

What's happening around the world?

Here are the latest international developments:

• The World Health Organization has said the pandemic will "go on for a year longer than it needs to" because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need
• India has administered more than a billion jabs since it started its vaccination drive in January this year
• A lockdown in the Australian city of Melbourne is due to end later on Thursday; it's had six lockdowns and is said to be the world's most locked-down city
• Meanwhile, in Latvia, the authorities are imposing a 30-day lockdown in response to a rising number of infections.

MPs should set an example on masks - Javid

PA Media

MPs should “set an example” by wearing face coverings in the Commons, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says.

When asked at a Downing Street news conference about many Conservatives not doing so, he said politicians should “set an example”.

Most Tory MPs have not been wearing face coverings since Parliament reduced limits on masks over the summer.

Unions representing Commons workers have called for rules to change and for mask wearing to return. More Labour and SNP MPs than those on the Conservative benches have been seen wearing masks since full sittings returned.

In the final question of the news conference, Sajid Javid was asked if more Conservative MPs should wear masks in the House of Commons, as Covid cases rise across the country.

Mr Javid said "we've all got our role to play in this and we the people standing on this stage play our public roles as a secretary of state, as someone in the NHS, as the head of UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency)”.

Doctors criticise ministers over new rules refusal

Compulsory face coverings and social distancing should return in England to address an “unacceptable” rate of Covid infections, doctors say.

The British Medical Association accuses ministers of taking their “foot off the brake” and being “wilfully negligent”.

Daily Covid cases have been above 40,000 for eight days in a row. The health secretary has warned daily cases could soon rise to 100,000.

Despite this, he rejects introducing restrictions right now.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference last night, Sajid Javid said that “at this point” the government would not bring in its Plan B measures – which include mandatory face coverings, Covid passports and the recommendation to work from home.

Dr Chaand Nagpul, the British Medical Association’s chairman, says that doctors “can categorically say" now is the time to act.

He stresses that case numbers were comparable to March, when England was in lockdown. Dr Nagpul adds that the numbers of cases we are witnessing right now are “unheard of in similar European nations”.

Good morning

Welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

The main stories so far today:

• Doctors say compulsory face coverings and social distancing should return in England to address an “unacceptable” rate of Covid infections. The British Medical Association accuses ministers of taking their “foot off the brake” and being “wilfully negligent”.
• The World Health Organization says that the Covid pandemic will "go on for a year longer than it needs to" because poorer countries are not getting the vaccines they need. Less than 5% of Africa’s population has been vaccinated. In most other continents, 40% of the population has received the vaccine.
• There will be a minimum of £78bn loss in lifetime earnings of children who missed out on education during the pandemic in England, the Education Policy Institute suggests.
• And figures from a recent study by the University of Edinburgh suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 90% effective and the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab 91%effective at preventing deaths from the Delta variant.