UK Covid live: people aged 40-49 to be prioritised next for vaccinations, JCVI says

Latest updates: scientific advisers say sticking with age-based approach would provide ‘greatest benefit in shortest time’Blair says collaboration on Covid could have cut three months off crisisEnglish school leaders despair over new rules on Covid tests and masksQueen urges Britons to ‘think about others’ and get vaccinatedGlobal coronavirus updates – live 11.29am GMT Professor Wei Shen Lim, Covid-19 chair for The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said opting to keep with an age-based priority system for phase two of the vaccine programme meant it would be simpler to administer.He told a Downing Street press briefing:Operationally, we know that age is a very easy and simple way to structure a vaccine programme.When we consider occupational groups, there are occupations where the risk of exposure to the virus might be higher. 11.15am GMT People aged 40-49 will be prioritised next for the Covid-19 vaccine, it has been announced.Scientific advisers said sticking with an age-based approach would “provide the greatest benefit in the shortest time”.Vaccinations stop people from dying and the current strategy is to prioritise those who are more likely to have severe outcomes and die from Covid-19.The evidence is clear that the risk of hospitalisation and death increases with age. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/feb/26/uk-covid-live-news-coronavirus-vaccine-boris-johnson-latest-updates #coronavirus #politics #uk_news