CORONAVIRUS NEWS

The Government has published figures which show the number of people who have received the vaccine between 8 December and 20 December in the UK is 616,933.

Pregnant women are among those most in need of safe, effective therapies against COVID-19, but they are routinely excluded from the majority of clinical treatment trials, according to authors of a paper, published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

A new poll by the Royal Society for Public Health has revealed that three in four (76%) of the UK public would take a COVID-19 vaccine if advised to do so by their GP or health professional, with just 8% stating they would be very unlikely to do so.

More than 137,000 people in the UK have received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the first week of the largest vaccination programme in British history.

​Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) have developed a method of generating high-quality chest X-ray images that can be used to diagnose COVID-19 more accurately than current methods.

A team of thoracic consultants from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has uncovered important findings on the use of chest drains during the COVID pandemic.

Interim results of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trials find that the vaccine protects against symptomatic disease in 70% of cases

Cancer and cancer treatment are both independent risk factors for mortality following COVID-19 infection, according to UCLH led research which highlights the ongoing need to protect cancer patients during the pandemic.

Interim results from the seventh report of one of the country’s largest studies into COVID-19 infections in England have been published by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI.

The lives of patients hospitalised with COVID-19 are being saved by doctors who are using an existing medical treatment at an earlier stage.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of 17 sites across the country, and the only one in the Yorkshire and Humber, to have been selected to trial the latest Covid-19 candidate vaccine.

The Vivaldi 2 study will more than triple in size to provide a detailed picture of coronavirus infection in care homes in England.

Beckman Coulter has announced the launch of its Access SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin M (IgM) assay in countries accepting the CE Mark.

The Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) has announced rapid expansion of recruitment, in order to meet anticipated demand in 2021.

Responding to the Prime Minister’s statement on coronavirus, NHS Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis, said:

“Daily hospital COVID admissions are now higher than on 23 March when the Prime Minister announced the first national lockdown.

Imperial’s COVID-19 vaccine lead, Professor Robin Shattock, has told MPs that there is uncertainty around the immunity that a vaccine will offer; boosting strategies may be required and we are likely to be living with the virus for years to come.

Fears that people with high blood pressure are more at risk from severe COVID-19 because it is easier for the virus to enter their cells and tissues have been laid to rest, thanks to research involving UCLH.

Two antiviral drugs are being given to COVID-19 positive adults to establish if they stop the virus replicating, as part of a trial led by UCL scientists.

NICE, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have given more details about the forthcoming guideline on post-COVID syndrome which is due to be published by the end of the year.

A new study suggests myocarditis caused by COVID-19 may be a relatively rare occurrence.