Health chief hints boosters could need top ups every six months

 Millions of Britons could need Covid boosters every six months for the foreseeable future, a health boss hinted today.

Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), suggested the most vulnerable ‘relevant groups’ in society will still need regular top-up jabs.

Britain is still in a ‘period of uncertainty’, she said, despite all restrictions being lifted more than a month ago.

Experts are unable to predict when a new variant may occur and how it could affect immunity from vaccines, she said.

Around 8million over-75s, care home residents and immunocompromised over-12s in England are eligible for fourth doses this spring. Fifth, and potentially even sixth jabs, will be rolled out to a wider group this autumn.

Dr Harries was asked at a Public Accounts Committee today whether boosters would continue to be dished out every six months.

Refusing to deny they could be topped up again after this fourth round of doses, she said: ‘For relevant groups, as per the evidence we have.

‘The spring booster campaign we have is for those who are over 75, care home residents and those who are immunocompromised.’

Dr Harries said: ‘The pandemic is not over so for the next 18 months, two years or so I think it will be a settling down period.

‘There are a couple of issues about when we might get a new variant and we can’t predict that with any certainty.

‘The Omicron wave was the fastest wave we have seen with a lot of uncertainty until our evaluative teams were able to assess how well vaccines were performing against it.

‘The other issue is what [type of vaccine] we want to procure.’

Health advisers are currently in discussion over whether to invest in vaccines tailored specifically to new variants or buy more standard jabs.

No10 bought 114million new Pfizer and Moderna doses in December for use over the next two years, while also investing in variant-specific doses for later in the year.

Dr Harries added: ‘The critical point … is that we retain really good working relationships with industry, with our research and academic colleagues, with our evaluation side of things to ensure that those conversations continue during this period of uncertainty.’

Her comments come after Health Secretary Sajid Javid hinted millions more may be eligible for top-up doses later this year, ahead of the country’s third Covid winter.

Grilled about the topic on ITV’s Peston programme, he did not specify exactly who would be invited in any roll-out this autumn. However, he admitted there may be a ‘need to give a lot more people a boost’.

Experts have speculated another inoculation drive this year could be expanded to include over-50s, effectively covering the same groups who will be offered a free flu vaccine on the NHS.

When asked if the booster drive would be widened to the general population, Mr Javid said: ‘I think at some point they will.’

Despite fears cases were spiraling again following the loosening of restrictions, Britain’s Covid cases fell over the weekend in a sign that the current wave may be peaking.

There were 215,001 positive tests recorded from Saturday to Monday marking a five per cent drop on last week’s same tally, Government data showed.

Ministers stopped publishing daily figures on the weekend at the end of last month as part of the living with Covid strategy, and are now considering scrapping the 24-hour updates entirely.

There are growing suggestions that infections, which also fell last Friday, could be peaking, four days before free lateral flow and PCR tests are dumped in England. They will remain available in Scotland until May, and in Wales until the end of June.

Experts have repeatedly called on ministers not to end the universal swabbing offer, warning it will leave them in the dark over major outbreaks in parts of the country.

But No10 today insisted it would not backtrack, arguing the country was now in a ‘vastly different’ position to last April when the tests first became available to all.

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‘Historic’ day as DR Congo joins East Africa trade bloc

 In a move which has been described as “historic”, the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially been admitted to the East African Community (EAC) trade bloc.

Kenya’s President Kenyatta said the moment was significant: “This is historic… the region has more to gain when it is together than when we are separate.

“The community will grow significantly as there will be expanded market opportunities.”

DR Congo’s consumer market of close to 90 million people is expected to expand the regional market to cover close to 300 million people.

Uganda’s President Museveni was also delighted about the admission: “DRC has finally ‘reconnected’ with the EAC, after separation due to colonialism. This is very crucial. It’s good it’s happening when I’m still alive, I’m a very happy man.”

The EAC heads of state were talking during a virtual summit chaired by President Kenyatta.

Three years after it applied to join the bloc, DR Congo becomes the seventh EAC member alongside Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Although Congolese citizens will eventually be able to enjoy the privileges that come with membership of the community such as free movement of people, goods, services and capital, changes will not happen overnight.

DR Congo’s parliament will still have to ratify the EAC laws and regulations, as well as deposit the instruments of acceptance with the secretariat before they come into effect.

The EAC is also expected to consider a proposal for the simultaneous translation of French and Swahili during the community’s meetings.

English and Swahili are currently the official languages of the bloc. DR Congo’s main languages are Swahili, French, Lingala, Kituba (Kikongo) and Tshiluba.

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Roman Abramovich ‘suffered suspected POISONING earlier this month’

 

Roman Abramovich has suffered a suspected poisoning along with Ukraine peace negotiators earlier this month that caused the skin to peel off their faces and temporary blindness, sources said.

A representative for Abramovich confirmed earlier today the oligarch had suffered the reported symptoms but refused to give any further details.

The Chelsea FC owner was allegedly poisoned just weeks ago after a meeting in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv whilst he acted as a ‘peacemaker’ in the Russian war in Ukraine reports the wall street journal.

Following the meeting in Kyiv on March 3, Abramovich as well as two senior members of the Ukrainian team developed symptoms that included red eyes, painful streaming eyes as well as peeling skin on their faces and hands, sources told the newspaper.

Abramovich, who accepted a Ukrainian request to help negotiate an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also ‘went blind for several hours’ and was treated at a hospital in Turkey, a source told The Guardian.

Analysts at investigative news site Bellingcat confirmed that three members of the delegation – including Abramovich – attending the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on March 3 experienced ‘symptoms consistent with poisoning with chemical weapons’.

Meanwhile, Shaun Walker of the Guardian said: ‘A source with direct knowledge has just confirmed to me the WSJ/Bellingcat reports that Abramovich suffered symptoms of poisoning. ”Roman lost his sight for several hours” and was treated in Turkey, the source said’.

Abramovich, another Russian entrepreneur and Ukrainian MP Rustam Umerov had been taking part in the negotiations, with the talks lasting until about 10pm according to Belling cat.

The investigative news site said it had known about the suspected poisoning for some time but chose not to publicise the information ‘due to concern about the safety of the victims’.

The revelation comes just days after Abramovich reportedly travelled to Poland to act as a negotiator between Putin and US President Joe Biden, who visited the Polish town of Rzeszow mere miles from the Ukrainian border last week.

Asked about the suspected poisoning, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak only said: ‘there is a lot of speculation, various conspiracy theories’.

Umerov meanwhile urged people not to trust ‘unverified information’.

Roman Abramovich suffered a suspected poisoning on March 3 after attending peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Kyiv (Abramovich pictured 2015)

Roman Abramovich has suffered a suspected poisoning along with Ukraine peace negotiators earlier this month. Pictured: Abramovich sits in a VIP lounge before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul from Ben Gurion international airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 14

Abramovich, another Russian entrepreneur and Ukrainian MP Rustam Umerov (pictured) had been taking part in the negotiations, with the talks lasting until about 10 pm, investigative news site Bellingcat said.

The three members of the delegation left the talks on 3 March to an apartment in Kyiv later that night.

Whilst there, they were all suffering from eye and skin inflammation and piercing pain in their eyes until the next morning. The three men had consumed only chocolate and water in the hours before the symptoms appeared.

A fourth member of the team who also consumed the same food and water did not experience symptoms.

The next day – on 4 March – Abramovich, Umerov and the other negotiator drove from Kyiv to the Ukrainian city of Lviv whilst on their way to Poland, still experiencing symptoms.

They then moved on to Istanbul, where they are believed to have received treatment before continuing negotiations.

Chemical weapons specialists and a Bellingcat investigator carried out examinations of the three men and concluded the symptoms are ‘most likely the result of intentional poisoning with an undefined chemical weapon’.

The symptoms experienced by Abramovich and the two other negotiators subsided by the end of the following week.

The Kremlin acknowledged for the first time last week that Abramovich was officially involved in early peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, but spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted on Thursday the oligarch was no longer part of the negotiation team.

‘He did take part at the initial stage,’ Peskov said Thursday. ‘Now the negotiations are between the two teams, the Russians and Ukrainians.’

Chemical weapon experts said the dosage and type of toxic used in the March 3 attack was ‘likely insufficient to cause life-threatening damage’ and instead intended ‘to scare the victims as opposed to cause permanent damage’.

Sources told WSJ they blamed the suspected poisoning attack on hard-liners in Moscow who wanted to ruin talks to end the war. The victims meanwhile said they were not aware of who would have an interest in the attack.

Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev, who was part of the team that concluded the Kremlin had poisoned Russian politician Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent in 2020, said he had seen the effects of the poisoning on Abramovich and the other negotiators.

‘It was not intended to kill, it was just a warning,’ Grozev said.

Roman Abramovich (left) and producer Alexander Rodnyanski (right) attend a RuArts Foundation cocktail party in Sochi, Russia, in 2017

What is Bellingcat?

Bellingcat is an investigative journalism site ran by British journalist and blogger Elliot Higgins.

Higgins rose to prominence for his investigations of the Syrian Civil War in 2012 and 2013, in which he used open-source intelligence and geo-location to prove the Syrian regime’s use of chemical and cluster weapons.

Off the back of his success, he launched Bellingcat in 2014, and along with a small group of fellow journalists and volunteers discovered that the MH17 disaster, which claimed the lives of 298 civilians, was caused by a Russian missile.

Higgins continued to fund Belling cat’s investigations with crowdfunding via Kickstarter, and the organisation began to expand overseas and take on more investigations.

The organisation now has roughly 20 full time staff and dozens of contributors around the world, and is funded entirely by crowdfunding, grants and revenue generated via its training programmes.

Bellingcat specialises in using open-source intelligence (OSINT) and social media research to fact-check and verify information, and provides training to journalists looking to develop their research skills.

Higgins described Bellingcat as ‘citizen investigative journalists using open source information to investigate, collaborate, and report on worldwide issues that are being under-reported and ignored’.

The Chelsea FC owner has reportedly been jetting between Istanbul, Moscow and Kyiv to relay messages between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

But when handed a note from the Ukrainian president outlining peace terms, the Russian despot reportedly erupted with fury.

Abramovich has been trying to rescue his reputation after being slapped with sanctions by the UK and EU over his closeness to Putin.

His assets have been frozen across Britain and the Continent and he started a fire sale of London property as well as Chelsea football club.

But his yachts and jets, which are worth hundreds of millions of pounds, remain out of bounds as they dodge sanctioned waters and airspace.

Meanwhile Zelensky reportedly pleaded with President Joe Biden for the US to hold off bringing measures against the oligarch due to his role in negotiations.

Abramovich left Ataturk airport in Istanbul on a private Hawker 800XP jet last Wednesday, heaving across the Black Sea towards Sochi.

Its flight tracker went dark near the city of Mineralnye Vody, with the plane later popping up leaving Vnukovo airport in Moscow and returning to the Turkish capital.

The oligarch had flown in to meet Putin and hand him a handwritten note by Zelensky outlining Ukraine’s peace terms position.

According to the times, the Russian president said to the oligarch: ‘Tell him I will thrash them.’

He returned to Istanbul and linked up with Ukrainian politician Rustem Umerov, who is said to be acting as Kyiv’s negotiator.

They met at five-star hotels in the Turkish capital, having been set up by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

Abramovich and Umerov have visited the Ukrainian President in war-torn Kyiv after travelling on private jets routed through Warsaw, Poland.

The businessman has been flying on one owned by a Turkish firm due to his being under EU sanctions.

He is one of at least 20 oligarchs in Turkey as they toe the line between Putin and Western restrictions.

He has two of his yachts moored in Bodrum on the south west coast despite the presence of Ukrainian protesters.

Turkey has not sanctioned Abramovich and appears to have allowed him to help in the negotiations surrounding the war.

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Oscars condemns Will Smith slap and launches review

 The Oscars film academy has condemned Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock at Sunday’s ceremony, and has launched a formal review of the incident.

A statement said it would “explore further action and consequences” in accordance with California law, and the body’s standards of conduct.

Smith slapped Rock in the face on stage after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Moments later Smith won his first ever Oscar – for best actor in King Richard.

Rock took aim at Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, a result of the hair-loss condition alopecia.

The incident cast a pall on what should have been Hollywood’s biggest celebration and overshadowed others’ achievements, one member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences – which organizes the Oscars ceremony -said.

“I woke up so bummed out about what Will Smith did,” said the member. “To me, he stole the limelight. I don’t think that was the place to be so violent. Most people were shocked. There were children there. It was a place to celebrate.” She asked not to be named.

Monday’s statement from the organisation behind the Oscars said: “The Academy condemns the actions of Mr Smith at last night’s show. We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”

Shortly after Sunday night’s incident, Smith was seen apparently being comforted by actors Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry.

Actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish, who co-starred with Jada Pinkett Smith in the 2017 comedy Girls Trip, described the exchange to People magazine as “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”. She said Smith had stood up for his wife.

However, many said Smith was wrong to use violence.

Marshall Herskovitz, a film producer, tweeted early on Monday morning: “I call upon the Academy, of which I am a member, to take disciplinary action against Will Smith. He disgraced our entire community tonight.”

Roger Ross Williams, a black member of the Academy’s board of governors, told the Hollywood Reporter that the confrontation drove him to tears because “it reinforces stereotypes about black people and it just hurts me to my core”.

Actor Wendell Pierce, whose credits include HBO’s The Wire and Terme, said he was hoping for “a public act of contrition” from Smith.

But he pointed out that Rock once produced a documentary on how black hairstyles are tied to identity.

“That film showed an appreciation for Jada’s, and Black women’s, struggle with the disease of alopecia. The joke did not. It insulted and provoked,” he wrote on Twitter.

On social media, some users suggested Smith’s actions could have violated the Academy’s code of conduct and wondered whether Smith would be asked to return his award for Best Actor, which he collected onstage shortly after slapping Rock.

The code states the Academy is “categorically opposed to any form of abuse, harassment or discrimination”, including members acting “in a manner that violates standards of decency”.

It also reserves the right for the Academy board to suspend or expel those in violation of the code.

However, Hollywood insiders like actor Whoopi Goldberg have said it is unlikely Smith will lose his award.

“We’re not going to take that Oscar from him,” she predicted. “There will be consequences I’m sure, but I don’t think that’s what they’re going to do.”

Smith earned the award – his first – for his portrayal of Richard Williams, the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, in the film King Richard.

In a tearful acceptance speech, he apologised to his fellow nominees – but not to Rock – and said “love will make you do crazy things”.

His wife has previously described hair loss due to her autoimmune disease as “terrifying”.

She looked unamused when Rock quipped to her: “Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” in an apparent reference to her shaved head and a 1997 film in which the titular character sports a buzz cut.

Moments later, Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”

Comic Kathy Griffin said the slap sets a dangerous precedent.

“Now we all have to worry about who wants to be the next Will Smith in comedy clubs and theatres,” she wrote.

Rock declined to press charges and has not commented publicly about the slap.

In the moments after the altercation, he quipped that it was probably “the greatest night in the history of television”, before presenting the award for best documentary.

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Will Smith hits Chris Rock on Oscars stage

 

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face on stage at the Oscars after the comic made a joke about the actor’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Jada, can’t wait for GI Jane 2,” he said, in an apparent reference to her shaved hairdo – which is a result of the hair loss condition alopecia.

Smith walked on stage and struck Rock before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your [expletive] mouth.”

He later apologised on stage.

“I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to my all my fellow nominees,” he said during a tearful acceptance speech for best actor.

The star picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.

“Art imitates life,” he said. “I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

Rock’s joke referred to 1997 film GI Jane, in which Demi Moore played the title role with a severe buzzcut.

The comedian looked stunned in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but told the audience: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.”

The Los Angeles Police Department later told Variety that Rock had “declined to file a police report” following the event.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith later attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with their children

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars, tweeted that it “does not condone violence of any form”.

After the incident, Rock handed over the best documentary prize, which was the reason he was on stage.

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, a tearful Smith needed to be “pulled aside and comforted” by Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry shortly after the incident.

The trio could be seen talking just in front of the stage during an advert break, with Washington and Perry putting their hands on his shoulders.

Presenting the next section, Sean “Diddy” Combs said: “Will and Chris, we’re going to solve that like family. Right now we’re moving on with love.”

Smith with Denzel Washington and Tyler Perry after the incident

Smith later attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party with sons Trey and Jaden, daughter Willow and his wife – smiling photographers and posing with his award on the red carpet.

Other guests at the party reacted to the incident, with filmmaker David Furnish saying he tells his sons with Elton John “don’t hit anybody… under any circumstance”.

But actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish defended Smith, saying he had been standing up for his wife.

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