A nasal spray that stops Covid infections for up to two days could be available in chemists by the summer, a researcher has claimed.

Dr Richard Moakes of the University of Birmingham reckons his team's formula can help lift Britain out of lockdown and "get schools going again".

The lead researcher has been in discussions with shops and pharmaceutical giants over mass producing the product they've been working on since last April.

It is reportedly made from ingredients that have already passed human safety approval tests – and said to work by capturing the virus in the nose and encapsulating it in a coating which it cannot escape from.

Dr Moakes told the Telegraph : “As an over the shelf product, we have spoken to companies with a presence on the high street as we think they could distribute it effectively.

“Based on the product, it will be much quicker to get to the user than a novel drug.

The research group announced that laboratory experiments showed the spray prevented a coronavirus infection from spreading for up to 48 hours last November.

https://theworldnews.net/gb-news/covid-blocking-nasal-spray-that-works-for-two-days-could-be-in-shops-by-summer

Lockdown restrictions in the UK are beginning to work, scientists said on Friday, as several studies showed coronavirus infections falling in England and most of the rest of the country.

The latest official estimate of R, the average number of people to whom someone infected passes the virus, is between 0.8 and 1.0 both for the UK and for England.

“The number of new infections is likely to be shrinking by between 1 per cent and 4 per cent every day,” said Sage, the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies.

Last week Sage put R for the UK at 1.2 to 1.3.

More good news came from the latest Office for National Statistics infections survey. ONS estimated that during the week ending January 16, just over 1m people in England had Covid-19, equivalent to about 1 in 55 or 1.8 per cent of the population.

https://www.ft.com/content/50b5563a-c025-44ce-a135-2eb13be96c07

The coronavirus R number has fallen to between 0.8 and 1 across the UK, according to the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

It is the first time the virus’s reproductive rate has fallen below 1 since early December, raising hopes the epidemic is slowing as lockdown measures take effect. Sage estimates the growth rate of the outbreak is now between -4 and 0 per cent.

Last week the R rate was estimated to be between 1.2 to 1.3. The latest figures mean that, on average, every person infected with Covid-19 will infect between 8 and 10 people.

In London the R number is even lower, at between 0.7 and 0.9, with an estimated growth rate between -7 and -3 per cent. 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/uk-r-rate-covid-falls-latest-b900806.html

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is likely to provide protection against the coronavirus variant first detected in the UK, new research shows.

After establishing last week that the vaccine was capable of neutralising the concerning N501Y mutation in the variant, further analysis of blood taken from trial participants now suggests the Pfizer jab can overcome a number of genetic changes present within the virus.

The latest study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, was conducted on a synthetic virus with 10 mutations that are characteristic of the spike protein seen in the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7.

Blood samples drawn from 16 vaccinated participants in prior clinical trials were exposed to the so-called ‘pseudo-virus’, which was effectively neutralised as a result.

This suggests that antibodies present in the blood - produced in response to the Pfizer vaccine - are capable of tackling both B.1.1.7 and the previous form of Sars-CoV-2 that the jab was initially designed for.

The researchers said their results indicate it is "unlikely that the B.1.1.7 lineage will escape BNT162b2-mediated (Pfizer/BionTech vaccine) protection".

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/pfizer-vaccine-coronavirus-variant-uk-b1789951.html

More than four million people in the UK have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to government figures.

People in their 70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable in England are now among those being offered the vaccine.

However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said UK data showed more people were in hospital with Covid than ever - and urged people to follow lockdown rules.

He said: "Do not blow it now. We are on the route out. We have to stick at it."

Speaking during a Downing Street briefing, Mr Hancock said more than half of those over 80 and half of elderly care home residents had been vaccinated.

He said that in some parts of the country the "vast majority" of people in their 80s had had their first dose - and specifically congratulated Slough for having already vaccinated every single elderly care home resident.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55710758

For a few hours this week, we were given an insight into the closely-guarded secret at the centre of the UK's vaccination programme.

It came courtesy of the Scottish government, which published its vaccination plan on Wednesday.

The plan included detailed figures for the number of vaccines that would be supplied to Scotland by the UK each week until the end of May.

The UK government has promised to offer COVID-19 vaccines to 15 million vulnerable people by the middle of February.

More than a month into the programme, it's managed to give 3.2 million people a jab. By international standards this is impressive. What's more, according to today's figures, the daily rate is now close to what is needed for the government to hit its goal.

Assuming that there are no problems with the supply or the delivery, Scotland will have enough vaccine to offer two doses to every adult in the country by the middle of July.

In practice, not everyone will take up the offer of a vaccine so these targets could be reached even faster. The Scottish government itself is expecting 80% take-up; our numbers are based on 100% take-up.

We can also use these numbers to estimate when the UK as a whole will get its vaccines. This involves making some assumptions, so any figures should be taken with a pinch of salt.

But the results these numbers produce explains why, behind the scenes, ministers are so confident about the rollout of the vaccine.

Of course there are many things that could go wrong from here. Raw materials can run short. Vaccines can get lost or wasted.

But there are reasons to be optimistic.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-every-uk-adult-could-be-vaccinated-by-mid-july-if-these-figures-are-anything-to-go-by-12188909

It is possible to get an extra dose out of vials of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as well as the one made by Pfizer, the head of immunisation at Public Health England (PHE) said on Wednesday.

In December, the health service gave doctors advice that they could use extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine at their discretion if they could be extracted, and on Wednesday Dr Mary Ramsay said it was happening with AstraZeneca’s shot too.

“We have been able to get more vaccine out of each vial, and that’s happened for the Pfizer vaccine and it’s also happening with the AstraZeneca vaccine. So that means overall, we’ve got more vaccines to go around,” she told lawmakers, adding that PHE had bought the necessary needles “from the start”.

“Really very early on we discovered that we’re able to get more out of the vials, which is excellent news.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-vaccine-vi-idUKKBN29I166?taid=5ffedae64156da0001be282f

Boris Johnson has pledged coronavirus jabs will be given 24/7 "as soon as we can" - as AstraZeneca said it expects to release two million doses a week of the Oxford vaccine by mid-February.

The prime minister said a huge network of 233 hospitals, 1,000 GP surgeries, 200 pharmacies and 50 mass vaccination centres is already working "exceptionally fast", but "at the moment the limit is on supply" of the vaccine.

"We will be going to 24/7 as soon as we can," he told MPs during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, adding Health Secretary Matt Hancock would be setting out further details "in due course".

His comments came minutes after his vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi confirmed the government is considering a 24-hour vaccination programme to meet its promise to have the UK's four most vulnerable groups vaccinated by the middle of next month.

Mr Zahawi told MPs on the Science and Technology Committee ministers "will absolutely look" at the measure when asked about it, adding that he is confident the government will achieve its target.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-astrazeneca-on-track-to-deliver-two-million-vaccine-doses-a-week-by-mid-february-as-it-calls-for-priority-access-12186734

Around 2.4 million people have now received a coronavirus vaccine, the Prime Minister has said. 

It comes as seven mass vaccination sites opened across England today.

The new centres will operate 8am to 8pm, and will be joined later this week by hundreds more GP-led and hospital services as well as the first pharmacy-led pilot sites. This takes the UK's vaccination sites to around 1,200, NHS England said.

Praising the expansion of the UK's vaccination programme, Professor Chris Whitty told BBC Radio 5 Live he hopes that restrictions will not be necessary next winter but that society is "quite a long way" from returning to normal life.

"If we have a very effective vaccination programme," England's chief medical officer said.

"If the vaccine works for a long period of time and prevents transmission, and in particular if everybody takes it up as they're offered it, then my hope is that we will need minimal or no restrictions in due course." 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-nhs-hospitals-uk-covid-cases-lockdown-vaccine/