Covid UK news – live: Just 28 in 58,000 test positive at event pilots as Delta cases rise by 46% in a week

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Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic for Friday 25 June, 2021.

India reported 51,667 new Covid-19 infections in the 24 hours ending Friday morning, taking the overall tally to more than 30 million.

The country recorded 1,329 deaths, and the fatalities now stand at 393,310.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19, which was first detected in India, a Pfizer official said.

Alon Rappaport, Pfizer’s medical director in Israel, told local broadcaster Army Radio that the data “points to our vaccine being very effective, around 90 per cent, in preventing the coronavirus disease,” according to Reuters.

The Delta variant has been classified as a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organisation, which said it has spread to 92 countries.

Bhutan's prime minister Lotay Tshering has said that he has no problem in mixing-and-matching Covid-19 doses as the country grapples with a shortage of vaccines.

He said over 90 per cent of the eligible population in Bhutan has received the first dose, and the 12-week deadline for the second dose will end this month.

India had earlier provided 550,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Bhutan, but has now stopped exports to focus on domestic needs.

India has urged countries, which restricted entry of travellers from India after a surge in Covid-19 cases, to normalise travel.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said some initial steps have been taken by countries in this direction and the Indian government will continue to prioritise this issue.

As the devastating second wave of the pandemic hit India, many countries stopped travel to and from India.

Leaders in London will meet on Friday for a vaccine summit in an effort to boost take-up rates in the capital.

Mayor Sadiq Khan and vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi aim to push up the numbers, with less than a month to go until the government’s target date of 19 July for offering a first dose to all adults. London is the only region in England where less than 90 per cent of over-50s are fully vaccinated.

Dr Vin Diwakar, regional medical director for London, will also join the summit on Friday afternoon alongside other officials, health specialists and community representatives.

The event in Stratford, east London, aims to discuss what more can be done to accelerate the vaccine rollout and ensure that all Londoners can get access to jabs.

Assurances such as not having to share ID or be registered with a GP in order to get a vaccine will be discussed as part of the event, before Mr Khan and others take a tour of the nearby Westfield vaccine clinic.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has said he hoped the announcement of a green watchlist would offer people some holiday options despite travel not returning to pre-pandemic conditions.

The cabinet minister told Sky News: “It does mean there is a little bit of relief for the travel industry and for people who wish to get away. It won’t be quite like it was in 2019 and the old days, but we are moving in a positive direction.”

He clarified that countries on the green watchlist were on the green list, but involved “one or two concerns” which could mean the government has to “respond quickly” in moving it off the green list.

Mr Shapps added: “I do have to say whoever is booking to go anywhere this summer at all, travel insurance, making sure your flights are changeable, making sure the accommodation is changeable – all those things are going to be very important in this particular year and I think people will need to weigh up whether that is going to work for them or not.”

Airlines and holiday companies have given a guarded welcome to the expanded “green list” of quarantine-free locations – and have criticised the postponement of allowing fully vaccinated travellers to avoid quarantine.

Malta, which has the highest vaccination rates in Europe, has at last been added to the green list – the only “unconditional” new member of the quarantine-free club.

The Balearic islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, as well as Madeira and the Caribbean islands of Antigua, Barbados and Grenada, are on the “green watchlist” – meaning that amber status could be reimposed at short notice.

Simon Calder reports:

Countries like Germany with a smaller vaccinated population are bound to be “more concerned” about letting tourists in, compared to nations such as Malta, the transport secretary has suggested.

Grant Shapps told BBC Breakfast: “I think it is understandable if you are in Germany – I heard what the chancellor (Angela Merkel) said yesterday – and you have yet to reach the level of vaccination that we have seen here or in Malta, that you’re going to be more concerned.”

He said that it “may be just a question of waiting for their vaccination programme”.

Mr Shapps said that he thought different European nations would take different views, adding: “I suspect different European countries will come to different conclusions, depending on their own domestic rollout of the vaccination programme, and it is probably in most cases a question of being patient and waiting to see what happens with their domestic programmes.”