Heatwave and Covid milestone on agenda in PM’s final scheduled Cabinet
Ministers will look back at the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination programme, as well as the ability of the NHS to deliver during the heatwave.
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Your support makes all the difference.The outgoing Prime Minister is set to praise the resilience of schools and the NHS in the face of extreme heat in what is expected to be his final scheduled Cabinet.
Boris Johnson, whose premiership took a nosedive when support collapsed around him earlier this month, will also use the occasion to mark one year since England moved to step four of the Covid roadmap, when most remaining restrictions were lifted.
Ministers will look back at the rollout of the vaccination programme, No 10 said, as well as the ability of the NHS to deliver during the heatwave.
Speaking ahead of Cabinet, the Prime Minister is expected to say: “We were the first country in the world to administer approved vaccines.
“Thanks to our scientists, NHS and volunteers who jabbed millions of arms, we built the strongest possible wall of defence and were able to safely open up our economy.”
Downing Street acknowledged Covid cases are now rising, but said “we are not seeing the same rapid increase in admissions to critical care and deaths due to the booster programme”.
“Everyone who is eligible for a spring booster but has not yet come forward is encouraged to do so,” it added.
Statistics released on Friday suggest Covid-19 infections in the UK have jumped by nearly 800,000 in a week, with some parts of the country nearing the record levels seen during the spring.
Hospital numbers are also continuing to rise, driven by the spread of the latest coronavirus subvariants, Omicron BA.4 and BA.5.
No 10 said the Mr Johnson will reflect on the lives lost to Covid and express his “deepest condolences” to their loved ones.
He said: “One year on from a successful reopening, we can reflect on what our brilliant NHS and country has achieved, and we should be proud of how far we have come.
“Without our excellent scientists and clinicians, and everyone who came forward for their vaccine, we would have been in for a longer and bumpier road.”
Earlier, Downing Street said the NHS is “coping well” with the sweltering weather.
Asked for an update on the heatwave, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “They had the Cobra meeting today where they received updates from relevant public sector teams across things like health, transport and schools.
“We haven’t as yet seen significant impacts affecting those areas.
“There’s no indication of mass closures of schools, for example, the NHS is coping well, and obviously there are additional mitigations in place, and Network Rail and others have already taken some mitigations with some reduced service and speed limits in place.”