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Latest coronavirus news as of 5 pm on 17 December

Regions in the east and south-east of England face tier three rules from Saturday

Almost 70 per cent of England’s population will be living under as “pressures on the NHS remain”, said UK health minister Matt Hancock on Thursday. Regions in the east and south-east of the country, including Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire will move into tier three one minute after midnight on Saturday 19 December, as will parts of Surrey, East Sussex, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire. “I know that tier three measures are tough, but the best way for everyone to get out of them is to pull together, not just to follow the rules, but to do everything they possibly can to stop the spread of the virus,” Hancock told parliament. There will be 38 million people in the country living in tier three from Saturday, including other parts of England already under tier three rules.

Hancock said cases in the south-east of England had risen by 46 per cent in a week, with hospital admissions up by more than a third, while cases in the east of England had gone up by two-thirds in a week and hospital admissions had risen by nearly half. He also announced that Bristol and North Somerset would be able to move down to tier two on Saturday and that Herefordshire would also be able to move down, to tier one. “I think this is a wise precautionary measure – to damp down virus transmission in the lead up to the Christmas 5-day relaxation – and afterwards, to restrict wider virus  transmission coming out of this break,” said Julian Tang at the University of Leicester, UK, in a . 

Yesterday, the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments released a . “The safest way to spend this Christmas is with your own household or your existing support bubble in your own home – and we strongly recommend that this is what you do if at all possible,” the statement said. It also stressed that “scientific advice is clear: the longer you meet others for, the higher the risk of you catching and spreading the virus” and that “if you do intend to form a bubble, you should keep the bubble small and your visits short”. 

Other coronavirus news

Two after receiving the coronavirus vaccine developed by US company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, including a woman who did not have a history of allergies to vaccines and who was admitted to hospital. Both individuals received treatment and have recovered. The woman’s reaction appears to be similar to the allergic reactions experienced by two healthcare workers who were vaccinated in the UK last week. Following the two allergic reactions in the UK, US Food and Drug Administration officials said they would require Pfizer to monitor severe allergic reactions and submit data on this later on.

French president Emmanuel Macron . In a statement, the Élysée Palace said Macron would “self-isolate for seven days in line with the health protocol applicable to everyone” and that he would continue to work remotely. 

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.65 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 74.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: We are starting to get answers to the big questions about immunity to covid-19, such as how long it lasts, can people be reinfected and whether vaccines stop transmission.

: In an extraordinary year for science, research into covid-19 has shed a bright light on the unknown.

Essential information about coronavirus

What to read, watch and listen to about coronavirus

is a BBC documentary about the inside story of the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19.

is a Channel 4 documentary which tells the story of the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of the scientists on the frontline.

is assessing the progress of different vaccine candidates and potential drug treatments for covid-19, and ranking them for effectiveness and safety.

is a project highlighting the experiences of key workers on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus in the UK, through social media.

is a BBC Panorama investigation of the death of transport worker Belly Mujinga from covid-19, following reports she had been coughed and spat on by a customer at London’s Victoria Station.

on Netflix is a short documentary series examining the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the efforts to fight it and ways to manage its mental health toll.

features updates and analysis on the latest developments in the covid-19 pandemic. Our podcast sees expert journalists from the magazine discuss the biggest science stories to hit the headlines each week – from technology and space, to health and the environment.

by Debora Mackenzie is about how the pandemic happened and why it will happen again if we don’t do things differently in future.

is about the new science of contagion and the surprising ways it shapes our lives and behaviour. The author, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and in the book he examines how diseases spread and why they stop.

Previous updates

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

16 December

UK nations issue sterner recommendations about household mixing over Christmas

The UK’s about the risks of mixing between households during the Christmas period, but current plans to ease restrictions between 23 and 27 December will largely remain in place in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Wales, (plus one additional person who lives alone) will be allowed to meet during the Christmas period, and the country will enter a nationwide lockdown from 28 December. 

The UK government has been to abandon its . On Wednesday, Johnson said people must show “personal responsibility” and try to avoid contact with people from vulnerable groups. During a Downing Street press conference, : “When we say three households can meet on five days, I want to stress, these are maximums, not targets to aim for, and it’s always going to be safest to minimise the number of people you meet.” Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she recommends that people spend Christmas at home with their own household where possible.

Other coronavirus news

A Royal Society for Public Health survey found that people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in the UK are than the population as a whole. The poll found that 57 per cent of respondents from BAME backgrounds were likely to accept a covid-19 vaccine, compared to 79 per cent of white respondents or 76 per cent for the population as a whole. Confidence was lowest among people of Asian ethnicity – 55 per cent said they were likely to accept a covid-19 vaccine. In the US, a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 35 per cent of Black respondents said they . In both the UK and US, people from ethnic minority backgrounds have been found to be .

Germany entered a , with schools and non-essential businesses closed from Wednesday until at least 10 January. Over Christmas, one household will be allowed to host up to four close family members from one other household.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.63 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 73.6 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded this year, many national governments have come under fire for perceived failings in their responses. Yet some organisations took their own steps to combat the virus. New Scientist spoke to some of these universities, companies and sporting bodies to find out how they did it.

: Despite the headlines about “super covid” and “mutant covid”, it remains unclear if a new variant of the coronavirus identified in the UK is any better at spreading.

Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images

15 December

UK under pressure to abandon easing of restrictions over the Christmas period

The UK government is under growing pressure to implement stricter coronavirus measures over the Christmas period. A joint editorial by the and the calls for the government to “reverse its rash decision to allow household mixing and instead extend the tiers over the five day Christmas period.” The article urges the UK to “follow the more cautious examples of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands” instead of as currently planned. This follows similar calls from Independent SAGE, a group of scientists publishing alternative advice for the UK government. They published a on 11 December arguing that the to allow up to three households to meet indoors between 23 and 27 December carries a “very real danger of a third wave of the pandemic.” 

On Tuesday, a government source told the that a meeting had been convened to discuss the UK-wide approach to coronavirus rules during Christmas. UK cabinet office minister Michael Gove will meet representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, after Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said her government was now considering whether any changes to the Christmas rules were necessary.

“From a purely epidemiological standpoint we should not relax our guard at Christmas, particularly as the prevalence of [covid-19] in the community remains dangerously high,” John Edmunds at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said in a .

Other coronavirus news

The European Medicines Agency is developed by US company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on 23 December, Reuters reported. “It will be the first regular approval of a [covid-19] vaccine in the world,” German health minister Jens Spahn told a news conference. The Pfizer/BioNTech jab has already been authorised for emergency use in several countries, including the and the , where vaccinations have already begun.

The US Food and Drug Administration is developed by US company Moderna on Friday for emergency use, the reported. Data released on Tuesday confirmed the vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.1 per cent in phase III trials.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.62 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 73 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: Roll-out of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has begun in the US as healthcare workers receive the first shots.

: To stop an out-of-control wave of covid-19, US president-elect Joe Biden will need to beef up testing and the supply chain, and convince states to mandate masks.

: Global data from a sleep tracker shows people getting up an hour later than usual during the covid-19 pandemic.

TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

14 December

UK health minister claims new coronavirus variant is associated with faster spread

A new variant of the coronavirus that may be has been identified in southeast England, UK health minister Matt Hancock said today. However, researchers have . Eric Topol at The Scripps Research Institute said, “This is going to require rigorous assessment before it can be confirmed. New variant sure, functionally significant unlikely. Suspect it will be refuted or seriously questioned.”

Speaking in parliament, Matt Hancock said, “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variant.” Over 1000 cases involving this variant have been identified in the UK, he said, suggesting the true number is much higher as identifying the virus requires sequencing, which is not normally done. However, Hancock also said similar variants have over the last few months and there was nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious disease or evade vaccine protection. Health authorities are still analysing the data. 

Mass vaccinations begin in the US 

Vaccinations against , with the first being given to a nurse in a medical centre in Queens, New York. Canada is also expected to begin vaccinating people today. Both countries last week granted emergency use authorisation for the coronavirus vaccine developed by US company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.  “We’ve got to convince as many people as possible in this country and worldwide to get vaccinated when it becomes available,” Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, . “If we get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated, we can actually get a degree of herd immunity in this country and elsewhere that could actually crush this epidemic.” 

In the US, the total number of reported deaths from covid-19 is about to pass 300,000. The actual number could be .

Other coronavirus news

In the UK, tougher restrictions will be introduced in London, and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire, from Wednesday due to rising cases numbers. These areas are being put in , which among other things means bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants and social clubs must close, except for delivery services.

Some schools in London or moving lessons online because of soaring case numbers. The government has been insisting schools remain open despite .

People may be able to from early next year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said. People arriving in Australia from New Zealand are already exempt from the usual two-week quarantine. 

Singapore today . Others to do so include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

A plan for staff at the White House to be among the first people in the US to get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been delayed after US president that it would not go ahead.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.62 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 72.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

11 December

London may face tier three restrictions soon to combat surging coronavirus cases

Cases in London continue to rise, making it increasingly likely that the city will be put under . “We know that as cases go up, hospitalisations and deaths follow. The current trajectory is a worrying one,” Public Health England (PHE) London director, Kevin Fenton, told the . The seven-day average across England is 153 cases per 100,000 people. London now has a case rate of 191.2 per 100,000, with 22 of the 32 boroughs above the national average. Four boroughs in the north east – Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Waltham Forest and Redbridge – have case rates above 300 per 100,000. Last week : “If we want to avoid being placed in tier three, it is vital we keep transmission down.” And after a meeting of London MPs with health minister Helen Whately on Thursday, one MP told : “It was a very clear preparation for tier three. I think the decision is pretty much made.” The UK government is expected to review the tier allocation for London, as well as for all other regions in England, on 16 December.

Across the UK as a whole, the has to between 0.9 to 1.0 in the most recent official estimate, from between 0.8 and 1.0 in the previous week’s estimate. The R number estimate for London is slightly higher than that for the UK as a whole, at between 0.9 and 1.1. These estimates are most likely to represent the situation two or three weeks ago due to a time lag in the data used to model the R. The latest UK government figures indicate the number of new infections across the country is shrinking by between 0 and 2 per cent each day. 

Other coronavirus news

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is developed by US company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. A panel of independent experts recommended its use yesterday, saying that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks in people aged 16 and over. The panel spent a day discussing data from trials of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, and voted 17-4 in favour of the authorisation, with one abstention. A final decision from the FDA could come in the “next couple of days”, Marion Gruber, director of the FDA’s research office, told the . The vaccine has already been , Bahrain, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

A coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed by UK company GlaxoSmithKline and its French partner Sanofi until late 2021, after interim analysis of results from a phase I/II trial showed that it did not produce a sufficiently strong immune response in people aged 50 and older. 

being developed by Australian company CSL in partnership with the University of Queensland after some trial participants received false positive HIV test results.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.58 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 69.8 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: Coronavirus vaccinations have begun in the UK, but it will be a huge challenge to deliver the vaccine more widely through local practices, writes one doctor working on the front line.

Nelvin C Cepeda/Shutterstock

10 December

Daily covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths reached new records in the US on Wednesday

More than 3000 people died in a single day from coronavirus for the , and new records were set for cases and hospitalisations as some US states set up field hospitals to treat people. Across the country on Wednesday, there were 221,276 new cases identified, 106,000 people hospitalised with covid-19 and 3124 people who died from the disease. California, Texas and Rhode Island are setting up field hospitals in preparation for a potential overflow of coronavirus patients as intensive care units continue to fill. Two weeks ago, US health adviser Anthony Fauci urged people to follow covid-19 guidelines during Thanksgiving. The holiday still saw passing through airports in the US, and a few days later, Fauci said the country could expect to see of cases as people returned home. 

Other coronavirus news

Canada’s health regulator developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday. It is expected that the first people will be vaccinated next week. Canada is the third country to authorise the vaccine after the and . Today a to consider whether the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should authorise the jab for emergency use. In a report to the panel published online on Tuesday, the FDA endorsed the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. 

Complete results from phase III trials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were published in the today. The paper confirmed findings announced earlier by the two companies that the vaccine had a similar rate of efficacy across all groups of age, sex, race, ethnicity, weight and underlying chronic conditions, and concluded that the safety profile over an average of two months after vaccination was similar to that of other viral vaccines. It also mentioned one case of severe covid-19 in the vaccinated group, compared to nine in the placebo group.

London had the in the week up to 6 December, according to Public Health England, increasing the chance the city will be moved into tier three – the highest level of coronavirus restrictions – in the coming days. London’s case rate per 100,000 people was 191.8 in the seven days up to 6 December, higher than other regions currently under tier three rules, such as the West Midlands where the case rate was 158.4 per 100,000 people during the same period.

Coronavirus cases are rising in Japan. Tokyo reported a , out of 2078 daily new cases across the country. Japan announced plans to buy 10,500 deep freezers to store coronavirus vaccines when they arrive.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.57 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 69.1 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: A researcher has claimed that England didn’t need a second lockdown because daily covid-19 daily cases were already peaking under regional restrictions, but other scientists disagree.

: Covid-19 continues to split some people along party lines. We are now beginning to work out why, writes Graham Lawton.

Victoria Jones/PA Wire/PA Images

9 December

UK regulator says people with history of significant allergic reactions shouldn’t get Pfizer vaccine

People with a should not receive the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, which is this week, according to the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The advice was released after two healthcare workers experienced allergic reactions shortly after receiving their first doses of the vaccine yesterday. Both individuals have a history of serious allergies and they have since had treatment and recovered. “The prompt reporting of these events […] and the rapid issuing of additional information to guide practice shows that the safety monitoring system is working well,” said Penny Ward at King’s College London in a . “As these two events occurred in people with a history of severe allergy, it is sensible of the MHRA to draw attention to these reports and to suggest that individuals with a history of severe allergy not receive the vaccine at this time,” said Ward.

Other coronavirus news

The UK government is under pressure to . “The latest data shows case rates are on the increase again in most London boroughs, including in the at-risk over 60s,” Kevin Fenton, London regional director for Public Health England (PHE), told the . The city is currently under tier two restrictions but the prevalence of infection is rising: London had a case rate of 170 cases per 100,000 people in the week up to 2 December, according to PHE figures, up from 156 per 100,000 the previous week. John Ashton, former regional director for public health for north-west England, said urgent action is needed. “If London doesn’t want hospitals to be full over Christmas the government need to get a grip today,” Ashton told the BBC. “Deaths will start going up during the Christmas period and new year unless something is done,” he said. The government is expected to review coronavirus restrictions for each region in England on 16 December.

India’s health ministry announced that coronavirus vaccines, including the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with AstraZeneca, are . India’s initial plan involves vaccinating about 300 million of the country’s 1.4 billion people, with priority for healthcare and other frontline workers, as well as people above age 50 or those who are clinically vulnerable to severe covid-19.

A developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm has 86 per cent efficacy, according to interim data from phase III trials released by the of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the vaccine is being trialled. The UAE’s health ministry told state media 31,000 volunteers have participated in the trial, and that it has officially registered the vaccine, though it is unclear whether it has been approved for wider use.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.56 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 68.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: Italy is banning travel, the UK has household bubbles, Germans are isolating and Austria is mass testing. Which approach to coronavirus at Christmas is likely to work best?

: The highest rate of coronavirus infections in England at present is in people aged between 11 and 24, raising the risk of them infecting older or vulnerable relatives at family gatherings.

Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

8 December

FDA says Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine data fits its guidance on emergency authorisation

The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech has to approval for emergency use in the US. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , which said figures on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy meet its expectations for emergency use authorisation. The documents said the two-dose vaccine is highly effective at preventing confirmed cases of covid-19 at least seven days after the first dose. They also said there wasn’t enough data to conclude whether the vaccine is safe in people under 16, people who are pregnant and those whose immune systems are compromised. The agency is expected to make a decision on whether to authorise the vaccine within days or weeks. 

The US has purchased 100 million doses (enough for 50 million people) of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine with an option to buy up to five times more. However, the Trump administration opted not to secure an additional 100 million doses during the summer for delivery in the second quarter of next year, according to the . The decision could delay US delivery of a second batch of vaccine doses in 2021.

Jacob King/POOL/Getty Images

First people take part in UK’s mass vaccination programme

A 90-year-old woman became the in the UK’s mass vaccination programme this morning when she was given the Pfizer/BioNTech . Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, received the first of two doses of the vaccine at University Hospital in Coventry. She told the BBC, “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against covid-19, it’s the best early birthday present I could wish for.” A man named William Shakespeare, 81, was the second person to receive the injection at the same hospital. “Today is a great day for medical science, and the future,” England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, . Vaccinations have also taken place today in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. 

Other coronavirus news

More information about the phase III trials of the vaccine being developed has been published in . The peer reviewed paper lays out the data for the interim findings of three phase III trials, which had been in a press statement on 23 November. The headline figure remains the same: the vaccine is very safe and 70.4 per cent effective on average. But depending on the dosing regime it can be as high as 90 per cent or as low as 62.1 per cent effective. AstraZeneca has begun the process of seeking regulatory approval in the UK, Canada, EU, Brazil, India, Russia and other countries, according to Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals R&D. 

Coronavirus and ministers are considering whether after the Christmas period. On 1 December, Wales had a seven-day average case rate of 267.8 per 100,000 people, up from 251.6 per 100,000 people on 30 November. Yesterday there were with covid-19 across Wales, the highest number recorded so far and 400 more than Wales’ previous peak in April. The country’s coronavirus case rate overtook that of England on 23 November, the same day Wales entered a 17-day “firebreak” nationwide lockdown, which lasted until 9 November. England had a one month nationwide lockdown from 5 November to 2 December. 

Hong Kong on hospitality and leisure aimed at curbing a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. Yesterday, Hong Kong , and daily new cases have surpassed 100 – the highest level since July – on several occasions in recent weeks. 

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.54 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 67.8 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

7 December

Steve Parsons – WPA Pool/Getty Images

First Pfizer/BioNTech vaccinations will be administered in the UK starting Tuesday

The of the developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech tomorrow, less than a week after the vaccine was given temporary authorisation for emergency use. The first doses of the vaccine were delivered to hospitals on Sunday, which is where the first vaccinations will take place across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland tomorrow. In England, . The first to receive the shots are expected to be older people already attending outpatient hospital appointments, and those being discharged home after a hospital stay. Other people over 80 will also be invited to visit hospitals to receive the injection, and care home providers will be able to book appointments for their staff. Healthcare workers who are at highest risk of getting severely ill with covid-19 will be offered any unused appointments. Older people, care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers will be the . In Wales, frontline health and social care workers are , while in Northern Ireland care home residents and healthcare workers are .

“As a doctor this is a really exciting moment,” said Stephen Powis, NHS England medical director. “NHS staff around the country at vaccination hubs have been working tirelessly to make sure that we are prepared to commence vaccination on Tuesday,” he said, speaking yesterday outside Croydon University Hospital in London – one of the first to receive delivery of the vaccine. However, Powis cautioned that the distribution of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would be a “marathon not a sprint” and that it would take “many months” to vaccinate everyone. 

Another potential barrier to widespread vaccination is . More than one in three people (35 per cent) in a recent UK survey by market research agency Opinium said they are when it becomes available. One in five (20 per cent) said they were unlikely to take it if it is available and the government recommends that they take it.

Other coronavirus news

More than 23 million people in southern California have been placed under a , after the state reported a in new coronavirus cases on Friday with 25,068 new confirmed infections. On Saturday, the state reported that only 12.5 per cent of intensive care beds remained available. People are required to stay at home and minimise contact with those from other households. The new rules came into force on Sunday and will remain in place for at least three weeks.

Serum Institute of India, the Indian producer of a vaccine candidate being developed by UK-Swedish company AstraZeneca in partnership with the University of Oxford, today, a government official told Reuters. Pfizer applied for emergency use approval in India for its vaccine over the weekend, according to the same government official.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.53 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 67.2 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: If you plan to meet people over the festive season, there are many ways you can reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus, writes Clare Wilson.

Essential information about coronavirus

What to read, watch and listen to about coronavirus

is a Channel 4 documentary which tells the story of the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of the scientists on the frontline.

is assessing the progress of different vaccine candidates and potential drug treatments for covid-19, and ranking them for effectiveness and safety.

is a project highlighting the experiences of key workers on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus in the UK, through social media.

is a BBC Panorama investigation of the death of transport worker Belly Mujinga from covid-19, following reports she had been coughed and spat on by a customer at London’s Victoria Station.

on Netflix is a short documentary series examining the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the efforts to fight it and ways to manage its mental health toll.

features updates and analysis on the latest developments in the covid-19 pandemic. Our podcast sees expert journalists from the magazine discuss the biggest science stories to hit the headlines each week – from technology and space, to health and the environment.

by Debora Mackenzie is about how the pandemic happened and why it will happen again if we don’t do things differently in future.

is about the new science of contagion and the surprising ways it shapes our lives and behaviour. The author, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and in the book he examines how diseases spread and why they stop.

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

4 December

US coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths reached new record daily figures

The in coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths yesterday. There were 217,664 new cases, 100,667 people hospitalised with the virus and 2879 people who died from covid-19 – all record high figures since its epidemic began. US health adviser Anthony Fauci warned that the situation is likely to become even worse in the coming weeks. “I think January is going to be terrible because you’re going to have the Thanksgiving surge super-imposed upon the Christmas surge,” Fauci told . “It’s entirely conceivable that January could be the worst,” he said. 

California, where hospital admissions have risen by 86 per cent in the past 14 days, is one of the latest US states to . Yesterday, the state’s governor Gavin Newsom announced a new stay-at-home order as well as restrictions on businesses and on non-essential travel. “This is the most challenging moment since the start of the pandemic,” Newsom told a press conference. “Lives will be lost unless we do more than we’ve ever done. We are being called to do everything in our power to make the kind of tough decisions that are required to get through this,” he said.

Other coronavirus news

The UK’s – the average number of people each person with coronavirus infects – has fallen slightly to between 0.8 and 1.0, according to the , down from between 0.9 and 1.0 the previous week. This is most likely to represent the situation two or three weeks ago due to a time lag in the data used to model the R. The latest figures also suggest the number of new infections is shrinking by between 1 and 3 per cent each day. The figures are consistent with the latest results from a random swab testing survey by the (ONS). The ONS estimates there were 25,700 new coronavirus cases per day in England in the week up to 28 November, down from 38,900 during the week up to 14 November.

London is Tier 3 because the fall in confirmed cases is starting to level out, particularly in outer boroughs, according to Kevin Fenton, London director for Public Health England. “If we want to avoid being placed into Tier 3, it is vital we keep transmission down,” he told the Evening Standard.

Switzerland as coronavirus cases in the country remain at a high level described by the country’s health minister as . The government said ski resorts should be able to remain open to domestic tourists with safety measures in place. are shutting ski lifts over Christmas, and France said it will also impose border checks to stop people travelling from France to Switzerland to go skiing.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.51 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 65.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: Lockdown restrictions in winter might seem something to dread, but we can combat this by embracing the mindset of people used to long, dark winters, says health psychologist Kari Leibowitz.

Virginia Mayo/AP/Shutterstock

3 December

UK hospitals are expected to get first batch of vaccines before care homes

The first batch of were sent from Belgium today. Distribution of the vaccine will be “an immense logistical challenge”, UK prime minister Boris Johnson said . The order in which people will get vaccinated is recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) but ultimately decided by the UK government. Yesterday, the JCVI recommended that priority be given first to care home residents and their carers. However, due to the strict storage requirements of the newly authorised Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the government said it will be delivered first to hospitals, with care home staff, NHS staff and patients likely to receive the first doses. “As soon as it is legally and technically possible to get the vaccine into care homes, we will do so,” said England’s deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, speaking at the same briefing as Johnson. “But this is a complex product with a very fragile culture. This is not a yoghurt that can be taken out of the fridge and put back in multiple times.”

Deputy chairman of the JCVI Anthony Harnden told BBC Radio 4 that . “The clear list that we have drawn out is a list of priority in terms of vulnerability,” he said. “I think the very short-term practical difficulties of getting this out from a storage point of view should not let us all lose sight of the fact that these care home residents and their staff are our utmost priority – and it may well be possible to get the care home staff to be immunised within a local hospital setting.”

Other coronavirus news

to discuss emergency use authorisation of a on 10 December. They will meet again on 17 December to discuss the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was granted temporary authorisation for emergency use in the UK yesterday. US health adviser Anthony Fauci told Fox News he thought the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. “We have the gold standard of a regulatory approach with the [US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)],” he said. “The UK did not do it as carefully and they got a couple of days ahead,” said Fauci. He called the FDA approval process “the correct way”, adding that “We really scrutinise the data very carefully to guarantee to the American public that this is a safe and efficacious vaccine.”

The US reported yesterday. New cases increased by 195,695 and 100,226 people were hospitalised with covid-19 – the highest figures since the pandemic began. The US also recorded 3157 new deaths from the disease yesterday, its highest number of daily covid-19 deaths since its previous peak of 2607 on 15 April. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating the , Reuters reported. The WHO does not recommend the use of “immunity passports” for people who have recovered from covid-19 or been infected with the coronavirus in the past. It still isn’t clear how long any immunity to covid-19 induced by a vaccine might last.

Researchers at IBM uncovered a global phishing campaign supply chains, which they say may be state-backed.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.49 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 64.7 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

PFIZER HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

2 December

UK government first in the world to give Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine temporary authorisation

The UK government has become the first in the world to give the for emergency use. The UK has pre-ordered 40 million doses – enough for 20 million people at most, as it is a two-shot vaccine – and will start to vaccinate people possibly as early as next week. To distribute the vaccine, special cardboard boxes that can be packed with dry ice, enabling the vaccine doses to be kept at -70°C during transport. They can then be stored in a normal fridge for up to five days.

This afternoon the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) released its advice on . It recommended that priority be given first to care home residents and their carers, then to frontline health and social care workers and people aged 80 and over. People 75 and over will be next, followed by those aged 70 and above and people who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The vaccine will not be given to pregnant women or to most children under 16, because there is no safety data for these groups.

Further details are thin on the ground. The announcement was made by the Department of Health and Social Care in a, which confirmed that “The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s covid-19 vaccine for use. This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”

The MHRA received the data from Pfizer and BioNTech – likely to run to thousands of pages – on 23 November. In a the head of the agency, June Raine, said: “We have been able to progress development in the quickest way possible. It’s been done using a process called a rolling review. That doesn’t mean that any corners have been cut – none at all.”

The information has also been reviewed by another independent advisory body, the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines. Munir Pirmohamed, chair of the body’s expert working group, said his group has called on the use of a “wide range of experts” in their research, and worked with “unprecedented raw data”. He said the group has advised NHS colleagues on stability issues related to distribution of the vaccine at ultra-low temperatures, the today.

Emergency use applications usually only consider safety, but the vaccine has reportedly also been assessed for effectiveness. “At this stage it is very, very important that people do not get their hopes up too soon about the speed with which we will be able to roll out this vaccine,” .

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A revised three-tiered system of coronavirus restrictions today, marking the end of the country’s second nationwide lockdown. Under the , most of England is under tier two and tier three, meaning people remain banned from meeting those from other households indoors.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has ordered authorities to with the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine next week. He said Russia will have 2 million doses of the two-dose jab ready within the next few days. 

Coronavirus cases in Poland passed 1 million today, according to its health ministry. Poland has a , which is making it difficult to combat the country’s second wave of coronavirus.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.48 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 64.0 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: China, the country at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, now sees few cases and deaths. How has it done it and are the official numbers trustworthy?

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Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/PA Images

1 December

Assessment of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines delayed by European regulator

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has being developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer in partnership with German biotechnology company BioNTech and by US pharmaceutical company Moderna for emergency regulatory approval. This could push back distribution of vaccines in Europe. The EMA said it will make a decision about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on 29 December and that it could make a separate decision on a similar mRNA-based vaccine being developed by US company Moderna on 12 January. Both vaccines were submitted for emergency regulatory approval this week and were originally supposed to be assessed by the EMA on 22 December, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. In a statement, Pfizer and BioNTech said that if their vaccine is approved by the EMA on 29 December, it before the end of this year. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency could make a decision on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine this week.

A US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention panel is on who should be prioritised in the roll-out of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the US. Public health officials have said that healthcare workers should be first to receive the vaccine, followed by the elderly and other vulnerable groups and essential workers. However, it will be up to individual states to decide how to distribute a vaccine. US health secretary Alex Azar has suggested the first people could . The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccine candidates are both being reviewed for emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Other coronavirus news

The UK has to allow people who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to access places such as pubs and restaurants once a vaccine becomes widely available, UK cabinet office minister Michael Gove said today. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That’s not the plan,” Gove told the BBC’s Breakfast show. Gove was responding to comments made by Nadhim Zahawi, a minister who has been tasked with overseeing the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine in England. He told the BBC yesterday that the government was “looking at the technology” to provide some form of “immunity” passport to allow people to access restaurants, bars and cinemas, in addition to developing a way for people to inform their GP that they have been vaccinated. “Of course individual businesses have the capacity to make decisions about who they’ll admit and why but the most important thing that we should be doing is concentrating on making sure that the vaccine is rolled out,” Gove said today. While a number of coronavirus vaccine candidates have been found to be very effective at preventing illness, it still isn’t known whether any vaccine to others and thus whether vaccine passports would provide any benefit.

MPs are on a stricter three-tiered system of coronavirus restrictions set to come into force after England’s nationwide lockdown ends tomorrow. The new measures are expected to pass.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.47 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 63.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Essential information about coronavirus

What to read, watch and listen to about coronavirus

is a Channel 4 documentary which tells the story of the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of the scientists on the frontline.

is assessing the progress of different vaccine candidates and potential drug treatments for covid-19, and ranking them for effectiveness and safety.

is a project highlighting the experiences of key workers on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus in the UK, through social media.

is a BBC Panorama investigation of the death of transport worker Belly Mujinga from covid-19, following reports she had been coughed and spat on by a customer at London’s Victoria Station.

on Netflix is a short documentary series examining the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the efforts to fight it and ways to manage its mental health toll.

features updates and analysis on the latest developments in the covid-19 pandemic. Our podcast sees expert journalists from the magazine discuss the biggest science stories to hit the headlines each week – from technology and space, to health and the environment.

by Debora Mackenzie is about how the pandemic happened and why it will happen again if we don’t do things differently in future.

is about the new science of contagion and the surprising ways it shapes our lives and behaviour. The author, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and in the book he examines how diseases spread and why they stop.

OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

30 November

Coronavirus cases in England have fallen during nationwide lockdown

Coronavirus infections in England dropped after three weeks of the country’s second nationwide lockdown, according to from a random swab testing survey by researchers at Imperial College London. The study found that the prevalence of infection fell from about 1320 infections per 100,000 people between 16 October and 2 November, to approximately 960 per 100,000 people between 13 and 24 November. It estimated England’s to be 0.88, adding to , which estimated the UK’s R number at between 0.9 and 1.0. An R number below 1.0 indicates the epidemic is shrinking. The fall in the number of infections is not uniform. “There is a mixed picture across the country,” said Simon Clarke at the University of Reading in a . “Infections are falling more quickly in the North, but not so quickly in the Midlands, South or London. This probably reflects the fact that large parts of the North were under more severe restrictions before going into lockdown and should be a warning to MPs and councils lobbying for their local areas to be placed in lower tiers,” said Clarke. 

England went into a second lockdown on 5 November and is due to move into a three-tiered system of coronavirus restrictions from 2 December. Under the , most of England will be placed under tier two and tier three, meaning people will remain banned from meeting those from other households indoors.

Other coronavirus news

A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by US pharmaceutical company Moderna was found to have an in complete results from the company’s phase III trial. The result is based on a total of 196 symptomatic coronavirus cases among the 30,000 trial participants. Half of the participants received a placebo rather than the vaccine, and just 11 of the symptomatic coronavirus cases occurred in the vaccinated group. One of the trial participants in the placebo group died of covid-19. The vaccine is based on a , as is the vaccine being developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer in partnership with German biotechnology company BioNTech. Pfizer and BioNTech released promising complete results from their phase III coronavirus vaccine trial on 18 November, showing 95 per cent efficacy, and requested emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration shortly afterwards. Moderna is also , in the US and Europe.

A found that population-wide coronavirus testing in Slovakia, combined with other control measures, was highly successful in rapidly reducing the prevalence of infections in the country. Slovakia became the first country to use rapid antigen tests to perform mass testing in October. The UK to try to control infections until a vaccine becomes available.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.46 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 62.9 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

27 November

The UK’s R number is between 0.9 and 1.0 according to the most recent estimate

The of the UK’s – the average number of people each person with coronavirus infects – has fallen to between 0.9 and 1.0 . “It is increasingly clear that the stricter measures implemented in recent weeks are having an impact,” said Liam Smeeth at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in a . “A period of tiered measures in December is warranted now to help allow some social mixing at Christmas that is so important to many. I suspect a further circuit breaker in January or possibly February may well be needed because Christmas will place such upward pressure on transmission rates,” said Smeeth. 

His comments are echoed in documents from the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) dated 5 November but . “Many celebrations involve families and households travelling across the country or internationally. If there is regional variation in prevalence, then this has the potential to seed infection from areas of high prevalence to low,” SAGE warned. 

The SAGE report added that increased transmission from a short period of relaxations, such as those expected under the , could potentially be compensated for by “implementing sufficiently restrictive measures of sufficient duration before and/or after the event”. It said preliminary modelling suggests that for each day that measures are relaxed, five days of stringent measures would be required to keep the epidemic in check. However, it added: “Given the potential for increased inter-generational mixing and the exposure of more vulnerable people, compensating before the increased period is greatly preferable. A period of high transmission during December will bring forward any rise in infection during January.”

Other coronavirus news

Coronavirus over the Thanksgiving holiday. There were 110,611 new cases recorded in the US on Thursday and 1232 new deaths. On the same day 90,481 people were hospitalised with covid-19, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

In Denmark, there are concerns that farmed may have escaped and . Sten Mortensen, veterinary research manager at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, told the Guardian that a few thousand mink escape from farms every year and that there is a risk 5 per cent of those that escaped this year were infected with covid-19.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.43 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 61.2 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: Doubts have been raised over the positive results released earlier this week by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford from trials of their coronavirus vaccine. Here’s what you need to know.

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26 November

Most of England to be put under the two strictest levels of restrictions next week

UK health minister Matt Hancock revealed of restrictions after the nationwide lockdown ends on 2 December. The toughest measures will be applied to the parts of the nation where cases and pressure on the NHS are highest, Hancock told parliament today. Specifically, the government will use five criteria to decide the tier for each area, which will be reviewed every 14 days. These include case rates across all age groups, case rates in people over 60, the rate at which cases are rising or falling, the test positivity rate and the estimated pressure on the NHS in a particular area. “The current epidemiological evidence and clinical advice shows that we must make the tiers tougher than they were before to protect the NHS through the winter months and avert another national lockdown,” Hancock added. 

Under the , about 55 million people will remain banned from meeting those from other households indoors –  under tier two and tier three rules. Approximately 23 million people will be under the highest level of restrictions – tier three – including the cities of Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester. This means they will only be allowed to meet people from other households in certain outdoor public spaces, such as parks, with a maximum group size of six. Only the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are under tier one rules, meaning that people will be allowed to mix with people from other households indoors in groups of no more than six. Gyms and hairdressers will be allowed to open across England. 

Other coronavirus news

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, an African Union agency, said that mass vaccination against the coronavirus is until halfway through next year. “We are very concerned as a continent that we will not have access to vaccines in a timely fashion,” said the agency’s director John Nkengasong at a news conference. “It will not be, in my view, up to [the] middle of next year before we truly start to get vaccination into Africa,” he said. The US, Germany and the UK have plans to start rolling out vaccines . Nkengasong said there will also be key logistical problems to overcome in many African countries, particularly those with hot climates and challenges with supplying electricity, since most vaccines need to be kept cool.

The covid-19 pandemic could , according to a report by UN Women. With more people around the world staying at home due to lockdowns and other restrictions, the need for household chores has increased, says the report. But analysis of data from 38 countries suggests that, while all people have increased their unpaid workloads, “women are still doing the lion’s share”. The report also found that women are taking on a greater intensity of care-related tasks compared to men. “Everything we worked for, that has taken 25 years, could be lost in a year,” UN Women deputy executive director Anita Bhatia told the .

Germany will until at least 20 December and will limit private gatherings to a maximum of five people from up to two different households. German chancellor Angela Merkel said the goal is to push the number of new coronavirus cases in each region of the country below 50 per 100,000 people per week. As of , only two of the country’s 16 federal states have case rates below this level. “We have to continue to pursue this goal,” Merkel told journalists in Berlin today.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.42 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 60.6 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

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Guy Bell/Shutterstock

25 November

Government science advisers warn UK Christmas plan likely to lead to rise in cases

Scientists advising the UK government during Christmas is likely to result in a rise in coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths. “It is likely to lead to a third wave of infection, with hospitals being overrun, and more unnecessary deaths,” Andrew Hayward at University College London, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), told the BBC’s Newsnight programme. Graham Medley at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also a member of SAGE, told the Guardian that the relaxation of rules could lead to further lockdown measures being needed in the new year. “I think it is inevitable that if a lot of people do take that risk, even if it is a small risk, then we end up with a lot of people in hospital and potentially having to take measures in January to lock down again,” said Medley.

Under the government’s , people across the UK will be allowed to gather in three-household groups of unlimited size for a five-day period around Christmas. “All the governments agreed that we should balance the need to protect public health with also allowing people to be with their loved ones,” cabinet office minister, Michael Gove.

Other coronavirus news

Senior US health adviser Anthony Fauci urged people in the country to , in line with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice. “Keep the gatherings, the indoor gatherings, as small as you possibly can. We all know how difficult that is, because this is such a beautiful, traditional holiday. But by making that sacrifice, you are going to prevent people from getting infected,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America programme today. “A sacrifice now could save lives and illness and make the future much brighter as we get through this,” said Fauci. “We’re going to get through this. Vaccines are on the horizon,” he added.

A from 46,723 people with coronavirus around the world found that none of the mutations identified are causing the virus to spread more quickly. The researchers discovered 12,706 positions in the genome with mutations. “Fortunately, we found that none of these mutations are making covid-19 spread more rapidly, but we need to remain vigilant and continue monitoring new mutations, particularly as vaccines get rolled out,” Lucy van Dorp at University College London, one of the lead researchers on the study, said in a . The study is published in the journal .

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.41 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 59.9 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

24 November

Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine candidate is 95 per cent effective, says Russia 

The Russian government says preliminary results from trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate Sputnik V have shown it to be after two doses. This is an increase from the reported for the Sputnik V vaccine earlier this month. The latest results are based on a trial in about 19,000 volunteers. Sputnik V is based on similar viral vector technology to that used in the candidate, which early results indicate may be up to 90 per cent effective. But a full comparison between the two vaccines will only be possible when all the data is released, said Ian Jones at the University of Reading, UK, in a . 

Each dose of the vaccine , according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). “It’s more than twice as cheap as other vaccines that have the same efficacy levels,” the head of RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, told a briefing. 

Other coronavirus news

UK health minister Matt Hancock said it is possible some as vaccines are rolled out, until it is determined how effective they are at preventing coronavirus transmission in addition to preventing symptomatic covid-19. Hancock was speaking during a joint session of the UK health and science committees today. He also said the NHS should routinely test people for illnesses such as flu after the coronavirus pandemic, and that he thinks the UK’s culture of “soldiering on” and going to work while ill should end.

The UK government announced it will introduce a on 15 December, which will allow passengers arriving from certain high-risk countries to end their quarantine early if they test negative for the coronavirus after five days of quarantine. Passengers will be required to book their tests with a provider from a government approved list and to pay for their own tests. The new system “will give passengers the confidence to book international trips in the knowledge that they can return home and isolate for a shorter period if they have received a negative test”, the government said in a statement.

A Microsoft Excel error that resulted in 15,841 cases not being immediately referred to the contact tracing system in England between 25 September and 2 October may have been linked to 125,000 subsequent cases and 1500 deaths, according to by researchers at the University of Warwick, UK. 

There were 2466 deaths involving covid-19 in England and Wales in the week up to 13 November, accounting for 20.1 per cent of all deaths that week in England and Wales, according to the most recent figures from the . This is an increase from the previous week, during which 1937 people died from covid-19.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.40 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 59.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

John Cairns/Jenner Institute

23 November

Oxford vaccine researcher says UK is on track to vaccinate high-risk groups  in December

People in high-risk groups in the UK may be able to get a , with doses for the wider public being made available by next spring, said Adrian Hill at the University of Oxford today. Hill is the head of the institute behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine candidate, which according to preliminary results published today. “I think we are on track for the timeline […] to start getting this vaccine rolled out from December,” said Hill. “Hopefully there will be a vaccine available for all adults, but that’s likely to be springtime rather than in January.” In addition to the UK, governments in the US and Germany are also in December. 

The UK has pre-ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, as well as 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate and 5 million doses of Moderna’s candidate. “The bulk of the vaccine rollout programme will be in January, February, March. And we hope sometime after Easter things will be able to start to get back to normal,” UK health minister Matt Hancock today. It isn’t yet clear how long any immunity generated by coronavirus vaccines might last.  

COVAX – a global coronavirus vaccine allocation coalition with the World Health Organization – has been working to and ensure the most vulnerable groups in each country are vaccinated first. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is already part of COVAX, which aims to distribute about 2 billion doses to 92 low- and middle-income countries at a maximum price of $3 per dose. In a today, AstraZeneca said it will seek an emergency use listing from the WHO to accelerate access to its vaccine candidate in low-income countries. 

Other coronavirus news

UK prime minister Boris Johnson about England’s planned return to a three-tier system of coronavirus restrictions, after the nationwide lockdown ends on 2 December. Parliament will vote on the plan later this week. Under the new system, more areas will be placed in the higher tiers compared to before the current nationwide lockdown. On Thursday, the government will confirm which regions will fall under which tiers. This will be based on analysis of cases among all age groups, particularly those above 60, as well as the rate at which cases are rising and falling and the current and projected pressure on the NHS in the region, Johnson told parliament today, which is in line with advice from the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. Johnson also revealed plans for a programme of mass testing, similar to that which took place as part of a , to be rolled out in all tier-three areas in England after the lockdown ends. Johnson said rapid coronavirus tests are already being deployed in the NHS and in care homes, with the goal of allowing every care home resident to have two visitors who can be tested twice a week by the end of the year. 

Covid-19 , with a new record of 83,870 people hospitalised with the disease in the country on Sunday. There have been ahead of Thanksgiving this week, despite the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently warning against travel for the national holiday. Senior US health adviser Anthony Fauci warned yesterday that spikes in cases would not become evident until weeks after Thanksgiving. He told this could create a “very difficult” situation as winter approaches.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.39 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 58.8 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

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JEANNE ACCORSINI/SIPA/Shutterstock

20 November

NHS England’s draft plan aims for widespread vaccination of adults by start of April

A draft of NHS England’s plan for the roll-out of a coronavirus vaccine aims for widespread vaccination of all willing adults in England by early April, if sufficient doses and other crucial supplies are available. Under NHS England’s draft covid-19 vaccine deployment programme, which was outlined in a leaked document dated 13 November seen by , most doses of the potential vaccine would be administered between early January and mid-March, at a rate of between 4 and 5 million each week. The vaccinations would take place at thousands of “community mass vaccination sites” arranged by local GPs, with additional “large scale mass vaccination centres” in stadiums and conference centres. Priority will be given to healthcare workers and care home residents who would start to be vaccinated in early December, followed by people aged 80 and above, those in their seventies and those in their late sixties. Adults under 50 could start getting vaccines late January, with the majority vaccinated in March. The draft plan relies on more than 7 million doses of a vaccine being available in December. The document does not mention which vaccine will be used, and it is not known how many doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available by then. The document also includes very little detail about how the NHS will surmount the significant logistical problems with delivering vaccines that require strict temperature-controlled supply chains.

US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech said they applied to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today for for their coronavirus vaccine candidate in the US. This week, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to be 95 per cent effective in phase III clinical trials. The UK government has of the Pfizer vaccines, and recently secured an initial agreement with US pharmaceutical company Moderna for of their vaccine candidate, which preliminary results indicate is almost 95 per cent effective. 

Other coronavirus news

Coronavirus infections in England , according to the latest results of a random swab testing survey by the . Estimated daily new infections in England decreased slightly to 38,900 new cases per day during the week ending 14 November, compared to 47,700 during the previous week. “These numbers would be the first where we might hope to see the national lockdown beginning to impact,” said James Naismith at the University of Oxford in a . “We know that social restrictions are the most effective way to bring down the number of new infections.”

The World Health Organization has advised that Ebola treatment . The FDA approved for use in people over 12 who are hospitalised with covid-19 last month. “The trials reported to date have shown no impact of remdesivir on survival,” said Martin Landray at the University of Oxford in a . “This is a drug that has to be given by intravenous infusion for 5 to 10 days and costs around £2000 per course. So remdesivir is not cheap, it is not convenient, and it has no impact on the mortality among the people at highest risk.”

Personal protective equipment ordered by the UK government may have come from factories using North Korean slave labour, the reported.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.36 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 57.1 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

19 November

‘Substantial risks’ with socialising over Christmas, warns UK science adviser

People from different households during the Christmas period poses “substantial risks”, particularly for older people who are more vulnerable to severe covid-19, a scientist advising the UK government has warned. Socialising during the holidays is likely to result in increased contact between younger generations “with high incidence of infection”, and older people, said Andrew Hayward at University College London, who is a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. “My personal view is we’re putting far too much emphasis on having a near-normal Christmas,” Hayward told BBC Radio 4. “We know respiratory infections peak in January so throwing fuel on the fire over Christmas can only contribute to this.” England entered a four-week nationwide lockdown on 8 November, which is due to end on 2 December. Next week, the UK government is expected to set out proposals for easing restrictions in December.

The city of Hull currently has the at 751 per 100,000 people, compared to 274 per 100,000 across England as a whole. Local MPs have asked the UK government for help, including support from the military to carry out mass testing in the city. Last week, the military was deployed to help the NHS with . The government said its coronavirus task force would discuss response measures with leaders in Hull. 

Other coronavirus news

Preliminary results suggest in severe covid-19. The findings, which have not yet been published or peer-reviewed, indicate that critically ill covid-19 patients treated with Roche’s anti-inflammation drug Actemra are more likely to survive after being admitted to hospital for covid-19. The drug, also called tocilizumab, is one of several being evaluated as part of the REMAP-CAP trial, led in the UK by researchers at Imperial College London and the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre. Other studies have shown mixed results on the effectiveness of tocilizumab in covid-19 patients, said Athimalaipet Ramanan at the University of Bristol in a . 

The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine candidate is safe and induces an , according to results from a phase II trial published in the . The results are based on a study in 560 volunteers. The findings are significant, because the risk of severe covid-19 increases with age. Data from on-going phase III trials will reveal whether the vaccine candidate can prevent people from becoming ill with covid-19.

The number of covid-19 patients in US hospitals has , with new record daily numbers of hospitalisations reported every day this week. Almost 77,000 people were hospitalised with the covid-19 in the US as of Tuesday and from the disease in the country since the start of its epidemic.

Coronavirus deaths

Matthew Rowett

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has passed 1.35 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 56.4 million, according to , though the true number of cases will be much higher.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

: Once a coronavirus vaccine is approved, the race is on to overcome the biggest logistics challenge in history to distribute it around the globe.

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