More than 100m vaccine doses were rejected in December alone due to rapidly expiring donations from wealthy countries; Spain continues vaccine push with 90.5% of population aged 12 and above jabbedFrench teachers walk out of classrooms in strike over C…
Coronavirus live: 4.3m people in the UK had Covid last week; Switzerland cuts isolation to five days
Official estimates show Covid infections continued to rise in all four UK nations; Fears wave of Covid infections could threaten Swiss economy‘VIP lane’ to award PPE contracts in UK unlawful, high court rulesCovid boosters not viable strategy against n…
Covid live: Italy, Netherlands and Turkey report record daily cases as Omicron surges across Europe
Italy reports a record 189,109 new cases; Dutch authorities announce more than 24,000 new cases; Turkey reports record 66,467 casesMacron rebuke to unvaccinated citizens incurs anger in parliamentChina’s locked down cities pay price of zero-Covid strat…
Covid ‘vaccination doubt line’ receiving up to 1,000 calls a day in the Netherlands
Helpline staffed by volunteers advising those still hesitant about getting jabbed against coronavirusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA “vaccination doubt line” set up by doctors in the Netherlands is receiving up to 1,000 ca…
UK Covid live: pre-departure tests for travellers to England to be scrapped; 194,747 new cases reported
From 4am on Friday pre-departure tests no longer required for people arriving in England as UK records second highest number of daily casesAlmost 200,000 new Covid cases reported in UKFollow-up PCRs after positive LFT to be suspended in EnglandTravel s…
Combine classes in case of Covid staff shortages, DfE tells teachers in England
Tories criticised for failing to tackle Omicron earlier as Covid infections are still highCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe government has told headteachers in England to start preparing for staff shortages by using suppor…
Can you capture the complex reality of the pandemic with numbers? Well, we tried… | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters
Throughout 2021, two leading lights of the Royal Statistical Society Covid-19 Task Force drew on data for a weekly Observer column, and found themselves in the middle of Covid culture warsIndividual experiences and suffering are, of course, at the hear…
Britain got it wrong on Covid: long lockdown did more harm than good, says scientist
A new book outlines the mistakes and missteps that made UK pandemic worseThere was a distinctive moment, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, that neatly encapsulated the mistakes and confusion of Britain’s early efforts to tackle the disease, says M…
New studies reinforce belief that Omicron is less likely to damage lungs
Six research groups’ findings all suggest variant multiplies more in throats and causes less serious diseaseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA growing body of evidence indicates that the Omicron Covid variant is more likely t…
Lateral flow test shortage is a supply chain disaster | Letters
Readers on the government’s failure to adequately plan for a predictable shortfall of at-home Covid test kitsI spent an hour on Wednesday driving around trying to get hold of lateral flow tests for myself and my husband as we only have four left (Covid…