Coronavirus news you missed overnight: Johnson’s warning over new vaccine as number of Covid deaths rises

England's deputy chief medical officer says he is ‘hopeful’ first doses of vaccine can be issued in UK by Christmas

Boris Johnson in a press briefing addressed the potential and also the limitations of a new vaccine  (Getty)

While welcoming the success of the new Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the prime minister Boris Johnson struck a note of caution late on Monday as he warned the vaccine has cleared only one significant hurdle so far and there are several more to go.

Mr Johnson urged the public not to rely on the vaccine or lose their resolve as the pandemic was likely to drag on a while longer yet. But he also said the country had ordered enough of the new vaccine to cover one-third of the population, keeping in mind two doses per person.

Accompanying the PM in the presser, England's deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam said he was "hopeful" the first vaccine could be seen by Christmas and there would be a "much better horizon" by spring.

Meanwhile, the UK has reported a total of 194 new deaths from Covid-19 for the 24 hours to Monday, up from 156 a day earlier.

Here’s the coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.

Boris Johnson cautions people to ‘not rely on the new vaccine’

Addressing a briefing from 10 Downing Street in London, Mr Johnson said salvation from a vaccine was still “some way off”.

“We have talked for a long time, or I have, about the distant bugle of the scientific cavalry coming over the brow of the hill, and tonight that toot of the bugle is louder. But it is still some way off. And we absolutely cannot rely on this as a solution,” he said.

He confirmed that the UK had pre-ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine — enough for about a third of the population.

But he told people to keep following the new lockdown rules strictly until 2 December, after which England is set to revert to a tiered lockdown system.

“We cannot let our enthusiasm (about a vaccine) run away with us. It is more vital now than ever that we follow the basics,” Mr Johnson said.

‘Vaccine could be seen by Christmas’ 

England’s deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, who joined Mr Johnson at the briefing, said he was “hopeful” that the first vaccine could be seen by Christmas after Pfizer’s announcement earlier on Monday that its vaccine candidate has proven 90 per cent effective in a large trial.

“This is a very important scientific breakthrough. I am certain of that. I am hopeful because of all that, but not yet certain that we could begin to see some vaccine by Christmas I think we have to be optimistic but we have to wait and see how vaccine manufacture goes,” said Prof Van-Tam.

Number of deaths from Covid-19 rises

The UK reported a total of 194 new deaths from Covid-19 on Monday, up from 156 a day earlier, and data showed the weekly total of 2,385 deaths was up by 28.6 per cent compared with the previous seven-day period.

Government data also recorded 21,350 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the cumulative total across the country to 1.213 million. The seven-day total of 159,502 new cases was almost unchanged compared with the previous seven days.The data on deaths uses the government’s preferred measure: people who died within a period of 28 days after testing positive for the virus.

‘Vaccine too late to stop second wave’

The rising hopes of a Covid-19 vaccine have come too late to stop a second wave of the virus, England’s deputy chief medical officer has warned.

“I don’t see the vaccine making any difference in the wave we’re now in,” Jonathan Van-Tam told a press conference – as he and Boris Johnson urged caution about the Pfizer announcement.

Professor Van-Tam said he was “hopeful” that the vaccine might be available by Christmas after the company announced early data showed it was 90 per cent effective.

And he said safety data – which was “more important than vaccine effectiveness” – should available in “the next few days”.

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‘Half of the positive Covid cases not being detected’

About half of all positive Covid-19 cases in the UK are not being detected, an expert has said.Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said these infections meant the country’s efforts to control the virus were being carried out "with one hand behind our back".

He said the mass testing project which began in Liverpool was attempt to combat the problem.

On Friday, thousands of people queued up outside six new testing centres in the city under a pilot for which hundreds of soldiers have been drafted in.

Read more here.

Adult daycare centres denied access to ‘vital’ coronavirus testing

Thousands of people with dementia, learning difficulties and other mental health conditions, as well as their carers, have been unable to get tests for the coronavirus and face missing out on vital support, The Independent can reveal.

The government has rolled out extensive testing in care homes and hospital settings, yet the same programme has not been provided for day centres, many of which have been forced to scale back the services they offer.

The charity Carers UK warned that a lack of testing “will be a factor in stopping hundreds of centres” from being able to deliver crucial services for thousands of vulnerable people.

Read more here.

Labour urges the government to avoid coronavirus recession and create jobs

Labour is urging the government to enact a vast green stimulus to create 400,000 jobs to bring the UK of out of the economic depression triggered by Covid-19.

The party wants chancellor Rishi Sunak to commit to at least £30 billion in capital investment over the next year and a half - warning to learn lessons from history and avoid austerity.

Shadow business and industrial strategy secretary Ed Miliband told The Independent that there was "work crying out to be done" - as the party publishes a new economic blueprint drawn up with input from trade unions and businesses.

Read more here.

Pandemic leads to ‘seismic shift’ from public transport to cars

The coronavirus pandemic has wound back the clock two decades in terms of attitudes to public transport use, with less than half of drivers now saying they would switch their car for a train or bus if the service was improved, according to new research.

The RAC’s annual motoring report suggests Covid-19 is deterring significant numbers of people from using sustainable forms of transport with the most notable shifts reported among young and new drivers and people living in the capital.

“The declining appeal of public transport seemingly represents a seismic shift compared to recent years, and suggests drivers are more wedded to their cars than they have been for a long time,” the report said.

For the first time since 2002, less than half of drivers (43 per cent) said they would use their cars less if public transport was improved – down sharply from 57 per cent in 2019.

Read more here.