Covid news: Lockdown extended in Northern Ireland as over 500,000 get second vaccine

Leading UK airline bosses say they will not demand that staff are vaccinated against coronavirus – though they will do all they can to encourage take-up of the jab among employees.

Speaking at an Airlines UK event, Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: “My personal view is that the individual’s right to govern their own body is essential. 

“We will do everything we can to promote [vaccination], and explain the merits of being vaccinated for yourself and for your loved ones and for society as a whole.”

Read Simon Calder’s report:

The world has lost over 20.5 million years of life due to the coronavirus pandemic, with an average of 16 years lost per death, a study has revealed.

Scientists measured years of life lost (YLL), the difference between an individual’s age at death and their life expectancy.

Samuel Osborne explains:

The Scottish government is to publish weekly data on coronavirus vaccine supplies north of the border following crisis talks with UK ministers and jab providers.

Boris Johnson’s government had previously pleaded with Scottish ministers not to publish any of the data due to security concerns.

However, first minister Nicola Sturgeon said her administration had held discussions with ministers in London – as well as officials from other devolved governments and vaccine firms – to resolve the row.

Adam Forrest reports:

The government said a further 454 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of today, bringing the UK total to 119,387.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 139,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The government also said that, as of 9am today, there had been a further 12,057 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

It brings the total in the UK to 4,083,242.

Nearly one in five people aged 80 and over in London had yet to have their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at the start of this week, new figures suggest.

An estimated 81.2 per cent of those aged 80 and over in the capital had received their first jab up to 14 February, according to provisional figures from NHS England - the lowest proportion for any region.

The estimate for the whole of England is 93.4 per cent.

The prime minister said on 14 February that everyone in England in the top four priority groups, including those aged 80 and over, had been offered the vaccine.

An estimated 99.3 per cent of people in England aged 75-79 had received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as of 14 February, NHS England figures suggest.

The estimate for people aged 70-74 is 92.3 per cent.

Some 94.5 per cent of residents of older adult care homes in England eligible to have their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine had received the jab by 14 February.

Residents are classed as eligible for the vaccine if they have not had Covid-19 in the previous 28 days.

The equivalent figure for staff of older care homes is 69 per cent.

Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna appear to be less effective against the South African variant when compared to other versions of the virus, two laboratory studies suggest.

The papers, published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), are based on experiments using blood samples from vaccine trial participants.

But experts believe most coronavirus vaccines should still prevent severe disease.

Tributes have been paid to an 82-year-old ambulance service worker with an "impeccable" work ethic who has died after contracting Covid-19.

Jamil Ahmed, often known by colleagues as Jim, was due to celebrate his 30th anniversary working for London Ambulance Service in September.

He was described as a "very pleasant, well-liked and respected member of the team who wasn't afraid to get stuck in when the going was tough".

Mr Ahmed worked in several roles across the capital during his career, including as an emergency medical technician, before taking a job in the non-emergency transport service team in Bermondsey, southeast London, during the pandemic.

He died on 8 February after contracting Covid-19, the ambulance service said.

Our social affairs correspondent May Bulman has this exclusive report about a photographer who was arrested for documenting a demonstration outside the controversial Napier Barracks in Kent, where asylum seekers are being held.

The case was eventually dropped - but he then received a £200 fine for breaching Covid rules at the same protest.

The Home Office has been accused of “grossly” misstating coronavirus rules after it said “all gatherings are currently against the law”.

The Twitter post accompanied a video which said “meeting up is against the law” as it showed footage of police raiding house parties as it warned people not to break lockdown rules, without clarifying that several exceptions permit some gatherings.

Some lawyers hit out at the language and called for the footage to be corrected or removed.

Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at Doughty Street Chambers who has been interpreting coronavirus laws for the public on social media, said on Twitter: “This tweet and video grossly misstate the law. All gatherings are *not* illegal. There are a huge number gatherings which *are* legal...”