Covid Lockdown England: Matt Hancock doesn't guarantee the end of December 2nd

Health Secretary Matt Hancock today warned it was "too early" to know if the number of coronavirus cases has fallen enough that the English lockdown will be lifted on December 2nd.

Mr Hancock said "most" positive tests showing across the country likely came from before the national shutdown began.

Health officials said this afternoon "if the lockdown works" they should see the case numbers fall "for the next week."

Today's numbers have shown that the UK's second wave of Covid appears to be flat, with infection numbers increasing only marginally over the past week compared to that time.

Mr Hancock also announced tonight that the UK has now received five million doses of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine after British officials scrambled to close a last-minute deal with the US company.

The health minister said ministers "absolutely hope to be able to replace the national lockdown with a tiered system next month" – but he has ceased to guarantee that it will happen if he puts Christmas in danger.

In other coronavirus developments today:

• Boris & # 39; £ 100 billion Moonshot operation will "fail miserably" and potentially accelerate the spread of Covid as tests are poor. Top experts warn Mr Johnson he could rule the country with Zoom after he hit back on criticism of a mask-free meeting with a coronavirus. infected Tory MP who forced him to self-isolate for a fortnight;
• More than 250 NHS and nursing home workers have joined an "anti-Vaxxer" group that compares Pfizer's Covid shock with "poison" and speaks out against wearing masks.
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed the UK was working "very closely" with Pfizer to bring the drug giant's breakthrough vaccine to market by early December.
• The coronavirus was already circulating in Italy in September 2019 – months before the disease was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan, according to a study by the National Cancer Institute in Milan.
• International flights between Australia and the UK will not resume until a vaccine is introduced, claimed Qantas chief Alan Joyce.
• Baby boomers who missed vacations, sports, and friends during the lockdown, according to psychiatrists, spent the money they saved on alcohol instead.

Dr. Susan Hopkins (pictured) said, "If the lockdown works," officials should find that the number of cases will drop "for the next week."

Boris Johnson has made it clear that the rules underlying the national lockdown will expire on December 2nd and MPs will have a say in the next steps.

However, there are concerns that the prime minister may be forced to extend the shutdown if the case numbers are still high before the four-week deadline.

That would spark a furious Tory rebellion, and many of the prime minister's backers firmly believe they will not agree to maintain national measures.

At a press conference on Downing Street, Mr. Hancock was asked if the lockdown should be extended if the number of cases continued to rise.

He said, “The answer is that it is too early to know how many cases there will be when we get to the end of the current lockdown.

“But I would say that right now, most of the tests we're getting back and most of the positive cases are from the time the ban came in.

“So we still have to look at the data, and it's too early to see the effects of the second lockdown in the data.

“However, we sincerely hope that we can replace the national lockdown with a tiered system similar to that described above.

"But of course we are looking into this and how we can make sure it is effective."

Dr. Susan Hopkins, a director of Public Health England who advises the government's coronavirus response, said officials should look into the lockdown "next week".

Alongside Mr. Hancock, she said, “The main problem for us is making sure the cases are falling and we expect the lockdown to work and we are all doing our best to reduce social contact with other people for the next week the falls are going down.

"We expect hospital admissions (fall) to be another week or more, but I think as long as the cases go back, we can make a judgment about which decisions we are making right and what are the opening decisions that will be made on Jan. December take place. & # 39;

Dr. Hopkins signaled that if the government decides to reintroduce it, there could be a possible tightening of restrictions on the lower end of the UK tier system.

She warned it might be needed to increase effectiveness until Covid-19 vaccines are widely available.

When asked what could happen after the lockdown ends on December 2nd, she said, “We realized that the country's rating has different implications in each area.

“Tier 3, and especially Tier 3 plus in the north, has had an impact on the reduction in the number of cases in the northwest, and we can see a decrease in the number of cases in the northwest.

“Tier 2 seemed to hold up in some areas and not so well in others. So it really depends on how quickly broadcasts happen and how well the people in the community are taking this advice.

"We're seeing very little impact from Tier 1, and I think if we look at what levels might be in the future, we need to think about bolstering them to get us through the winter months until the vaccine is for everyone is available. "

New numbers seem to show that the UK's second wave of coronavirus has flattened out.

The number of cases rose only 0.06 percent in the last week, as the new numbers showed.

In another sign that the second wave is slowing, the government announced another 21,363 new laboratory-confirmed Covid cases in the UK.

While the number seems high, it's a small increase from last Monday's number of 21,350 new cases.

This brings the total number of cases in the UK since the pandemic started to 1,390,681.

The government also announced that an additional 213 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday – up 9.8 percent from 194 last Monday.

The latest death toll brings the UK to 52,147 since the pandemic began.

In another sign that supports sign blocking measures, new Covid case numbers in the UK were registered at 21,363. That number is new, laboratory-confirmed cases that were recorded at 9 a.m. today

The government also announced that an additional 213 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday – up 9.8 percent from 194 last Monday

However, separate data from the UK statistical authorities shows that there are more than 67,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the UK.

This includes deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, as well as additional data on deaths that have occurred in the past few days.

Meanwhile, Mr Hancock announced tonight that the UK had received five million doses of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine after British officials tried to close a last-minute deal with the US company.

But the sting, which was known today to be 94.5 percent effective at preventing people from getting Covid-19, has to be taken in two shots, meaning the five million doses are only two and a half Vaccinate millions of British people.

Speaking at a press conference on Downing Street tonight, Hancock said the vaccine won't be available in the UK until next spring as the Massachusetts-based company needs to drastically expand its supply chain.

But Americans are likely to get their hands on 20 million cans before the New Year.

The UK has already received 40 million doses of a vaccine other than Pfizer, which uses the same technology as Moderna and was 90 percent effective last week.

Speaking at a press conference on Downing Street tonight, Hancock said the vaccine won't be available in the UK until next spring as the Massachusetts-based company needs to drastically expand its supply chain

Moderna's vaccine works just like the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, using genetic material called RNA from the coronavirus to induce the body to make the "spike" proteins that the virus uses to attach the virus to cells in the body binds

However, the government did not simultaneously place orders for Moderna's batch, although it was cheaper and easier to stock than Pfizer's.

This meant the UK government was left flat when the company announced its first results this morning. Mr Hancock dodged questions about why the UK had not pre-purchased Moderna's vaccine, insisting that it was "really good news" that No10 had managed to get one in the first place.

He also recognized the UK Vaccine Taskforce, chaired by Kate Bingham and Business Secretary Alok Sharma, for their “great job” in dealing with the biotech company at the last minute.

Mr Hancock said he was "delighted" that No10 had expanded its vaccine portfolio from six to seven and said repeatedly that the vaccine would not be manufactured in Europe until the spring. Labor MP Bill Esterson said the failure to pre-order doses of the Moderna vaccine was "mistake after mistake after mistake by the UK government".

The Minister of Health welcomed the results of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine study as a "candle of hope" but warned of the high rates of infection and death in the UK, which "made it painfully clear that the virus remains a major threat" – 25,000 people fall ill every day of the disease and 413 die.

Moderna's results show that 95 out of more than 25,000 participants caught the coronavirus in the study.

Only five out of 95 had actually received the vaccine, while the other 90 were in a placebo group and received a false push.

And no one in the vaccine group got seriously ill with Covid-19 compared to 11 in the placebo group who were given a fake vaccine to compare it to the real one.

The results suggest that the vaccine significantly reduces the risk of people who test positive for coronavirus or get Covid-19.

The US has already signed a $ 1.5 billion (£ 1.16 billion) deal for 100 million cans, while the EU has an "unsigned" deal for 160 million cans.

Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Qatar and Israel have also signed deals as the company continues "talks with a number of countries".

Moderna is projected to manufacture 20 million cans for the US this year before shipping worldwide next year.

The bump is expected to cost $ 15.25 (£ 11.57) per dose, which is $ 30.50 (£ 23.14) per person, which is slightly cheaper than the $ 19.50 (£ 14.79) ) per dose that Pfizer charges the USA.

Moderna may be cheaper to distribute, however, as it can be refrigerated for up to a month and transported in regular freezers at -4 ° F (-20 ° C). Nations don't need to buy expensive specialty freezers or the global supply of dry ice, which experts warned would be a disadvantage of Pfizer's shock, which must be kept at -70 ° C (-94 ° F).

Moderna said it will apply for a license from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration within a few weeks, but it's unclear whether it will apply to the UK.

The UK Medicines Agency MHRA is in the middle of an ongoing review of the vaccine. MEPs today criticized No10 for not buying the vaccine and accused ministers of "mistake after mistake after mistake".

Moderna is the second high profile company to confirm interim clinical trial results of its coronavirus vaccine, claiming the sting is nearly 95 percent effective

After a joint venture between Pfizer and BioNTech last week, Moderna is the second pharmaceutical company (picture left, scientist in the company's laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts) to publish interim results of a test with its coronavirus vaccine

The company's share price rose 15 percent on the news and rose to $ 101.53 (£ 77.04) in pre-market trading by 8 a.m. ET (1 p.m. GMT), according to US director of infectious diseases Anthony Fauci had anticipated today's results last week.

Moderna's study will continue until 151 people are infected, and the company admitted that its estimate of how effective the bump is could change by the end.

Scientists today hailed the news as "hugely exciting" and "a second dose of very encouraging news" and, as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said today, Britain is preparing to start distributing Pfizer's vaccine from December 1st.

To temper expectations, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the global pandemic still had a long way to go.

It warned that the virus will still have "plenty of freedom of movement" as the very vulnerable will gain access to a sting, with the majority of people waiting to get one well into next year.

University of Reading virologist Professor Ian Jones told MailOnline, “Another set of vaccine dates with a protection of 90 percent plus.

& # 39; The poor antibody response seen with some natural Covid infections clearly does not apply to targeted vaccination, which in turn means that we can be sure of reducing the pandemic if the vaccine is introduced.

'For the Moderna vaccine, the logistics of the process can also be aided by their stability data, which shows a less stringent cold chain requirement than some. With three studies reported and no major safety issues identified, the vaccination program can now focus on the use and access to vaccines for those who need them. & # 39;

And Dr. Andrew Preston, a biologist at the University of Bath, told MailOnline: “That two vaccines based on this new vaccine platform (mRNA vaccine) offer such a similar level of protection gives real confidence in the vaccine's effectiveness.

& # 39; As in the Pfizer study, the vast majority of registered cases of Covid occurred in people who received the placebo vaccine, demonstrating the Covid vaccine's ability to protect against disease.

& # 39; The study included people in the most at-risk categories (age and certain comorbidities (diseases)).

'While this important inclusion is highlighted in the press release, it lacks a detailed explanation as to whether the experimental data can indicate the level of protection for each of these key subsets.

"While the overall protection headline is extremely encouraging, there are still a few important questions that need to be answered."

He added that the fact that the vaccine does not need to be stored in extremely cold temperatures like Pfizer's and is therefore easy to store is "a second dose of very encouraging news".

Dr. Preston said it wasn't necessarily a government failure not to order the push as it works in the same way as Pfizer's. So if one of them failed, the other would likely fail. Britain bought 40 million Pfizers vaccine.

He said: “The mRNA vaccine is a new platform. The Covid vaccines will be the first licensed use of an mRNA vaccine.

As such, it could have been considered the riskiest of all vaccines.

"Investing in mRNA vaccines at the expense of a more traditional vaccine would therefore have been seen as a high risk."

Dr. Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, added, “We have six vaccines that we bought in millions of doses, so assuming we get plenty of Pfizer Jab and Oxford that works too. & # 39;

A government spokesman said this afternoon: "The news from Moderna appears to be good and represents another important step towards finding an effective Covid-19 vaccine.

As part of the ongoing work of the Vaccines Task Force, the government is in advanced talks with Moderna to ensure the UK has access to their vaccine as part of the broader UK portfolio.

& # 39; Moderna is currently expanding its European supply chain which means these cans won't be available in the UK until spring 2021 at the earliest.

& # 39; So far, the UK government has secured early access to 350 million vaccine doses through agreements with six different vaccine developers.

This includes 40 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech's vaccine, which is based on the same platform as Moderna's vaccine and, if approved by the Medicines Agency, is expected to start shipping as early as December 2020. "