Life moves pretty fast - if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller
Here's what happened in the news this week.
Plenty of updates on the coronavirus pandemic emerged this week, with the UK securing some 30 million potential vaccines from pharmaceutical giants BioNTech and Pfizer, which are currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. 60 million doses have also been acquired from Valneva, with a further 40 million on top of that figure if their vaccine proves to be effective and safe. Doses for immunocompromised individuals who cannot be vaccinated normally have also been acquired from AstraZeneca.
Once a vaccine has been proven effective, every country in the world will be after doses for their populations, so although pre-ordering like this may seem a risky endeavour given the significant financial cost for a potentially useless product, if one is successful then it could mean the prevention of thousands of deaths, as well as ending disruption to daily life.
In addition, initial research from Oxford University published this week shows that their potential vaccine stimulated an immune response, resulting in the formation of COVID-19 antibodies. The Government seem confident that an effective vaccine will be found in the coming months, while still being wary of a second peak coinciding with the flu season, and as a result are expanding the free influenza vaccinations scheme to all over-50s.
In other virus-related news, Boris Johnson conceded this week that the UK "could have done things differently" at the start of the pandemic, with many critics suggesting that lockdown should have been imposed weeks before it was, which would have saved thousands of lives. Once things have returned to normal, an inquiry into the Government's behaviour during the pandemic is inevitable.
The Government also admitted that it's NHS Test and Trace programme was rolled out despite not being assessed for potential privacy breaches involving personal data. The Guardian reported that three such breaches have already occurred involving private companies. According to the Open Rights Group (ORG), who presented the legal challenge which prompted the admission from the Department of Health and Social Care, this failure by the Government to properly check the privacy risks of the scheme breaks the law, and may see Health Secretary Matt Hancock face a day in court.
Having had it's publication delayed for some 7 months by the Government, the Russia Report was finally released this week, revealing that not only did Russia attempt to interfere in the 2017 General Election, but interference in other votes such as the 2016 EU Referendum were actively ignored and not looked into by the Government. The report also noted that Russian capital invested in the UK was not properly examined, despite there being significant questions about the provenance of such funds. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab denied that the Government avoided evidence of Russian interference, adding that in his view there is no need for an investigation into the Brexit referendum.
There are many serious questions arising from the report which need to be answered, not least about the delay to it's publication. It does not seem insignificant that Boris Johnson chose, having read this report in December, to go ahead with the General Election that month knowing that Russia would attempt to interfere, and withhold that information from the public. There must now be a wider inquiry into Russia's influence in our politics and society, particularly Brexit, and we must aim to better protect our democracy from tampering such as this.
In other news, tensions between the US and China continued this week as consulates in Houston and Chengdu were closed by the respective governments. The UK continued to support the US by suspending it's extradition treaty with Hong Kong, meaning that China will be unable to extradite the Hong Kongers who relocate to the UK back to China. With a second Cold War seemingly brewing, de-escalation is desperately needed in order to prevent this crisis from spiralling into a full-scale trade war between the two major world powers, which would have significant implications for the global economy.
In lighter news, the band Sports Team, who I personally championed in a recent article (https://www.ljcoblogforum.com/post/7-new-artists-destined-for-great-things), have been shortlisted for the prestigious Mercury Prize for their brilliant debut album 'Deep Down Happy'. Although they face stiff competition from the likes of Dua Lipa and Stormzy, based on the quality of the album there is no doubt in my mind who the judges should pick as their winner.
#Coronavirus #Vaccine #BorisJohnson #NHSTestandTrace #MattHancock #RussiaReport #China #USA #SportsTeam #MercuryPrize
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