UK live coronavirus: only half the population is likely to receive the vaccine, says the head of the working group | Politics

Good Morning. It already seems like a busy day: We are getting a reaction to the news that almost 16,000 positive test results were not revealed for testing and tracking, or were not published in the figures, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will deliver his speech later in the Tory online. conference and Cineworld will close all of its UK cinemas, but a revealing interview in the Financial Times is also worth noting. Many people have been hoping that when a vaccine becomes available, that will be the wonderful development that will allow life to return to normal.

But the FT has been talking to Kate bingham, head of the UK government’s vaccine task force, and said that if a vaccine is available or when it becomes available, less than half the population is likely to get it. In your story (paywall) Anna Gross Y Jasmine cameron-chileshe report:

Kate Bingham told the Financial Times that vaccinating everyone in the country “was not going to happen,” adding: “We just have to vaccinate everyone who is at risk.”

Ms Bingham said the government was aiming to vaccinate some 30 million people, compared to a UK population of about 67 million, if a successful Covid-19 vaccine was found.

“People keep talking about ‘it’s time to vaccinate the entire population,’ but that’s a mistake,” he said.

“There will be no vaccination for people under 18 years of age. It is an adult-only vaccine, for people over 50 years of age, that targets healthcare workers and care home workers and the vulnerable ”…

Ms Bingham said the vaccination policy would be aimed at those “most at risk,” noting that vaccinating healthy people, who are much less likely to have severe Covid-19 outcomes, “could cause them extraordinary harm.” which could tip the balance in terms of risk-benefit analysis.

Bingham also told the FT that if a vaccine turned out to be 95% effective, then it could be used more widely. But that would be a decision for later, he said.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11.50 am: Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, delivers his speech at the Conservative party online conference. Other speakers today include Gavin Williamson, the secretary of education, at 11 am; Robert Jenrick, secretary of communities, at 1.30 pm; George Eustice, the environment secretary, at 2 pm; Alok Sharma, the business secretary, at 2.30 pm; and Oliver Dowden, secretary of culture, at 3.30 pm.

12:00 h: Downing Street lobby briefing.

12:15 pm: Vaughan Gething, the Welsh government health minister, conducts a briefing on the coronavirus.

12.30 pm: The Scottish government must conduct its daily briefing on the coronavirus.

2.30 pm: Penny Mordaunt, a Cabinet Office minister, gives evidence to the European Commons scrutiny committee on the implementation of Northern Ireland’s Brexit protocol.

3.30 pm: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is required to give a Commons statement on the 16,000 undisclosed positive coronavirus test results to NHS Test and Trace.

Politics Live has doubled as the UK’s coronavirus live blog for some time and given the way the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we will also cover political stories that do not belong to Covid, and where they seem most important and interesting, they will take precedence.

Here’s our global coronavirus live blog.

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