Boris Johnson has set out his hope that the current COVID lockdown will be the last – thanks to the “unprecedented” vaccine rollout. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, the prime minister hailed the “astonishing efforts” of everyone involved in the delivery of COVID jabs after the government met its target of offering a
Politics
Over the next week the government and its advisers will be assessing a host of COVID-19 data to come up with a plan for easing lockdown restrictions. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out his roadmap out of lockdown on 22 February and is hoping to include the earliest possible dates for reopening different sectors
The first rule of world-beating vaccine club is you don’t talk about world-beating vaccine club. A weird one, especially when the first rule of world-beating coronavirus test and trace club seemed to be that you talk about little else. Even when the reality is clearly not living up to the description. So what’s going on?
The government will not be setting an “arbitrary target” for when lockdown can be lifted despite pressure from some MPs to scrap all restrictions by the end of April, the foreign secretary has told Sky News. Dominic Raab said the plan was to “ease the lockdown” with the return of schools, which Prime Minister Boris
Boris Johnson has said he is “optimistic” ahead of his “roadmap” for easing England’s lockdown – and hinted at which industries will reopen first. The prime minister said his plan, which will be unveiled on 22 February, will prioritise the reopening of schools from 8 March. He added that non-essential retail will follow, then hospitality
Anyone eligible for a vaccine who has not yet had a jab is being urged to come forward – with Britons in top priority groups being told it isn’t too late to receive one. The government and the NHS have launched a new vaccine uptake plan that’s designed to reach vulnerable and underserved groups, and
Over-65s will begin receiving letters inviting them to get COVID vaccines from early next week as part of the next phase of the UK’s vaccination programme, Sky News understands. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously set a deadline of Monday 15 February for offering a first dose of a vaccine to 15 million people in
A senior Conservative MP has warned the government against “backsliding” on the reopening of all schools in England on 8 March and suggested some younger children should return to classrooms this month. Robert Halfon, the chair of the House of Commons education committee, told Sky News of his concerns of an “epidemic of educational poverty”
Ministers will tomorrow discuss a Cabinet Office proposal to introduce vaccine and testing certificates for when international travel is allowed again, Sky News can reveal. Responsibilities have already been divided up between government departments to look at the idea. If approved, the Department for Transport will be told to draw up plans for a certificate
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told Sky News the government is “doing everything we can” to allow Britons to enjoy a holiday this year – amid confusion about whether people should be booking summer breaks. Following the introduction of tougher border measures for UK nationals returning from abroad and the continuing lockdown restrictions, the government
Boris Johnson is being accused of undermining the fight against COVID-19 by launching a re-organisation of the NHS in the middle of the pandemic. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock is announcing an NHS shake-up in England that he claims is based on lessons learned from COVID and will slash red tape. But the government has
The prime minister has raised the prospect of people getting a coronavirus vaccine “booster” jab in the autumn. Boris Johnson said the move would likely be required as the UK battles the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world “I think we’re going to have to
The government had difficulty contacting hundreds of thousands of clinically vulnerable people who were told to shield at the start of the pandemic, a watchdog has discovered. A lack of contingency planning meant officials scrambled to develop a system to find those who might need support while they were unable to leave the house, according
UK and Irish residents returning from 33 “red list” countries will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in hotels for 10 days, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told MPs. As part of a new quarantine system due to come into force from Monday next week, the government has booked 4,600 rooms across 16 hotels for
Boris Johnson has not ruled out a shake-up of the school calendar as part of a “flat out” bid to help pupils catch up from missed classroom time. The prime minister on Monday said the government’s “single biggest priority” now was to overcome the loss of learning suffered by children during the coronavirus pandemic. In
Labour has told the government to “crack down on the cronyism” as it claims almost £2bn in COVID contracts have gone to “friends and donors” of the Conservative Party. The Labour Party’s analysis of government procurement data during the coronavirus crisis found that more than £1.9bn in government contracts has been directly awarded to companies