Covid

Could the Sputnik vaccine end Russia’s rift with the West?

Accounts differ. But it would appear that during a wide-ranging conference call earlier this week, the leaders of France and Germany broached the possibility of – wait for it – buying some of Russia’s pandemic pride and joy: its Sputnik V vaccine. If a deal is struck this would be a huge boost to Russia at home and abroad, and by extension to President Putin, who has spent months trying to dispel widespread Western suspicions about the Russian vaccine, from its Soviet-era name to the breakneck speed of its development. Any deal would also represent quite a turnaround for France and Germany, whose leaders have spearheaded a Continental European reluctance

Macron’s latest lockdown fiasco

On New Year’s Eve, Emmanuel Macron promised France an economic revival by the Spring. Cancel that. Instead, as the intensive care units are saturated by a third wave of Covid, we have a new lockdown light and a new message from the president: ‘Don’t panic.’ More than a year after Macron the general took personal command of the war on the new coronavirus, the vaccination program has still to get into high gear, the doctors are threatening to triage patients, abandoning those with little hope, yet there was no hint of contrition from the president. Instead, he announced that we are to be subjected to yet another baffling set of

Steerpike

Macron blames the British variant for French lockdown

Tonight President Macron announced a wave of new national lockdown measures across France, following reports that more than 5,000 people across the country are now in intensive care. In a television broadcast he said that schools would move to remote learning from next week, that a 7pm curfew would now be in place and that all non-essential shops will close from Saturday.  Macron cited the so-called ‘Kent variant’ as one of the main reasons for the lockdown, telling viewers: ‘This variant which was identified for the first time from our British neighbours at the end of last year and to a certain extent, of course, gave rise to an epidemic within

How the Sputnik vaccine brought down Slovakia’s Prime Minister

March was a dark month for Slovakia. Covid cases and deaths in the country were among the highest in Europe, while political tensions reached breaking point this week with the resignation of Prime Minister Igor Matovič, after the country controversially purchased Sputnik V vaccine doses. Following disputes within the ruling coalition over the decision to depart from the EU’s vaccine strategy, Matovič agreed to trade places with the Minister of Finance, making him the first European leader to fall victim to ‘vaccine diplomacy’ amid concerns about a shift eastward in Slovak foreign policy. Matovič’s fall is particularly painful given the wave of optimism which swept him to power in last year’s

Ross Clark

Why is vaccinated Chile locking down again?

Get ahead with vaccination and you can open up your country sooner. It seems logical, but it is not quite how things are working in Britain, where in spite of this week’s relaxation our lockdown restrictions remain among the toughest in the world. This applies even less in Chile. On 29 March, 6.53 million of the country’s 19 million population had received a first dose of vaccine (either Pfizer or the Chinese Sinovac) and 3.37 million had received a second dose. In combined doses per million people, Chile is a little ahead of Britain. Yet large parts of the country have been placed back into a lockdown even more severe

Boris Johnson’s vaccine problem

On the day that people are finally allowed to gather in groups of six outside, tennis games get underway and wild swimmers take to Instagram en masse, Boris Johnson attempted to land a message of caution with the nation. Speaking at today’s press conference, the Prime Minister spoke of the need to ‘proceed with caution’ as the country takes a ‘small step to freedom today’.  The nerves in government point to a problem that will only grow as the vaccination programme continues at pace The PM pointed to Covid cases rising across the Channel as a cause for concern that shows the need to ‘continue flat out to build the immunity

Scottish Covid adviser’s vaccine confusion

Oh dear. During the course of the pandemic, the University of Edinburgh professor of public health Devi Sridhar, has become a regular sight on television screens and comment pages – offering her insights on the best course of action over Covid. In her role on the Scottish government’s Covid-19 advisory group, Sridhar has previously caught Mr Steerpike’s attention for lobbying repeatedly for more SNP powers which she claims are necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus. The snag? There was nothing stopping the Scottish government from quarantining travellers using their own powers, a move that was already planned at the point Sridhar demanded it. Now the good professor has been accused once again this afternoon of spreading confusion. As

James Forsyth

Why ministers are worried about foreign holidays this summer

On 5 April, the government will publish its framework for deciding what foreign travel will be allowed this summer. As I say in the Times today, there is very little optimism in Whitehall about European holidays this summer. This might seem odd given that every adult will have been offered at least their first dose by then. Surely the vaccine should allow us to go abroad even to places where there is Covid in circulation? But not if the worry is about a vaccine-evading variant being imported into the country. As one of those involved in devising the way out of lockdown puts it:  The nightmare scenario is a vaccine-evading

Kids will thank us for shortening the school summer holidays

Oh for a normal summer – so close now, but Covid remains capricious, a wave across Europe threatening to wash it all away. But just think: for some schoolchildren, and their parents, the normality of the long six-week summer break may not be such an appealing prospect. Sure, the middle-classes are able to pack it with enriching activities – exciting new skills, friendships and memories. But, for kids in families with stretched budgets, it can be isolating, impoverishing, boring. And, as quite a substantial body of evidence now shows, very bad for their emotional and cognitive development – some studies even conclude that the majority of the attainment gap between

MPs back extending Covid powers until September

MPs have voted to extend emergency coronavirus powers for another six months by 484 to 76 against. This means the government has retained wide-ranging powers including those given to police and immigration officials when dealing with people suspected of carrying Covid. In the debate ahead of the vote, the Health Secretary insisted that the powers will stay in place ‘only as long as necessary’. Discontent is growing in the Tory party over the government’s approach However, when pressed, Matt Hancock would not rule out MPs being asked to renew them again in six months’ time. The fact that there is little substantial opposition to the plans – 35 Tory MPs and the Liberal Democrats voted against –

Ross Clark

The practical problems with vaccine passports

The story of Covid has been one of government repeatedly ruling things out – and then coming back several weeks later and introducing them nonetheless. It happened with lockdown, compulsory wearing of masks, and now it looks as if it might be happening with vaccine passports. Remember vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi telling us of vaccine passports in February: ‘That’s not how we do things in Britain. We do them by consent.’ This week the Prime Minister seems to have changed the government’s tune, by suggesting that we might, after all, have to show some kind of proof of vaccination before being allowed into pubs or other such premises. He did

Sturgeon suffers courtroom blow over church lockdown rules

The Scottish government has suffered a major reversal in court over its Covid-19 regulations. The Court of Session has found its blanket ban on public worship to be unlawful. In January, Nicola Sturgeon closed places of worship across Scotland ‘for all purposes except broadcasting a service or conducting a funeral, wedding, or civil partnership’. She said at the time that, while ministers were ‘well aware of how important communal worship is to people… we believe this restriction is necessary to reduce the risk of transmission’. Canon Tom White, parish priest of St Alphonsus in Glasgow’s east end, and representatives of other Christian denominations, sought judicial review. They argued that this closure

Boris tries to avoid a vaccine war

After France’s Europe Minister became the latest politician to threaten a vaccine export ban on the UK, Boris Johnson used today’s press conference to try to diffuse the row ahead of Thursday’s summit of EU leaders. When asked in the Q&A session whether such an export ban could derail the UK roadmap for ending lockdown and if the UK would retaliate, the Prime Minister stressed the need for cooperation from all sides. No. 10 fear retaliatory measures in the event of a vaccine export ban could make the situation go from bad to worse Johnson said the UK would continue to work with European partners to deliver the vaccine rollout – suggesting

Kate Andrews

Vaccines should mean more freedom – not less

Do vaccines lead to freedom – or to more lockdown rules? That very question would have seemed bizarre a few weeks ago, when Matt Hancock told this magazine that he’d ‘cry freedom’ when the most vulnerable had been protected. But now, things are swinging the other way. The end of the second wave in Britain (infections and intensive care admissions are down 95 per cent from the peak) has not been followed by reopening. Instead, it’s being used as rationale to continue lockdown for months to come. The latest is international travel: the freedom to leave the country. As we reach the milestone of over half of UK adults having

Steerpike

Stanley Johnson and the Covid loophole

Labour have been taking a cheeky pop at the PM’s father today in the Guardian over new coronavirus regulations coming into force later this month. Under the guidelines from 29 March, people will be allowed to leave the UK to prepare a second home for sale or rent as part of a list of specific ‘reasonable excuses to travel’ outside the country. Andrew Gwynne has dubbed this the ‘Stanley Johnson clause’ in a reference to the latter allegedly breaking Covid guidelines by travelling to his Greek villa to make it ‘Covid-proof.’ In typically partisan style, Gwynne claims that:  For hardworking families facing the prospect of missing out on summer holidays, it will stick in

Why are Covid conspiracies so appealing?

The recent decision by several European countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine will have thrown petrol on the bonfire of conspiracies surrounding the pandemic. These range from believing that vaccines contain microchips so that Bill Gates can track you, to believing that the virus is a global conspiracy to allow governments to introduce new draconian measures to control their populations. Why are so many conspiracy theories thriving today and what do they tell us about ourselves? During my time serving in Iraq I heard lots of conspiracy theories. Many concerned exaggerated capabilities of the equipment we had, such as the belief that night-vision goggles and even Army-issued

Is Macron losing control of France?

There may be a touch of the Monday blues for Emmanuel Macron this morning as he scans the headlines in France. A new poll reveals that vaccine scepticism in his country has reached record levels, thanks to his recent belittling of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Sixty-one per cent of those canvassed expressed their doubts about the vaccine, up 18 per cent from last month. Only 23 per cent said they had confidence in the AstraZeneca jab. In contrast, 75 per cent of British people have faith in the vaccine. But if the French are increasingly reluctant to be vaccinated, they are determined to enjoy the arrival of spring – Covid restrictions

Let’s call time on Britain’s gerontocracy

The boomers are eating their grandchildren. They don’t see it this way, of course, but they are doing it nonetheless. Covid, or rather the British state’s response to the pandemic, is just the latest evidence of this. Whatever you make of Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic, one thing is clear: the cost of lockdown will be funded by young people in taxes for years to come. But it will most of all be paid for with time. We can find ways to minimise the impact of the government debt, but we can’t give people a year of their lives back. It is a natural part of history that good

Where’s Nicola Sturgeon?

After being accused last night of misleading the Scottish parliament, Nicola Sturgeon’s daily Covid briefing was high on Mr Steerpike’s watch list today. Alas upon tuning in, viewers were greeted with the sight of Jeane Freeman, the country’s health secretary (under fire for quite different reasons) rather than her embattled party leader. Asked by Sky about whether Sturgeon should resign, Freeman snapped back that: ‘This is a Covid briefing and that is what I am here to answer questions on’ before (quelle surprise) saying she still believed her colleague did not mislead parliament and that she should not resign. So where is Sturgeon and why is not doing her much loved daily