covid
Oxford’s remarkable vaccine success
It is worth taking a moment to stand back and applaud Sarah Gilbert and the Oxford vaccine team’s achievement. The…
Can the EU be trusted to introduce vaccine passports?
The contracts were badly drafted. The orders were late. Too few resources were made available for the scale of the…
The battle for the soul of the Jewish community
There are two groups in the Jewish community – mainstream Jews who, while still religious, do their best to assimilate…
Why do old people have fewer antibodies after the vaccine?
The UK policy of delaying second doses of the Pfizer vaccine has been criticised by some as risky, with Pfizer…
Why Eastern Europe is looking to Russia and China for vaccines
With Central and Eastern European countries still gripped by Covid-19, the EU’s slow vaccine rollout has offered little solace in…
Is Boris Johnson opening the way for vaccine passports?
The government’s position on vaccine passports is a cause of continuing intrigue. Although Downing Street has insisted on several occasions…
How effective are the Covid vaccines?
Reports have filtered through this morning about Public Health England’s assessment of the efficacy of the two vaccines so far…
Hungary’s vaccine strategy risks showing up the EU
You have to admire Hungary’s chutzpah. Not only has it bypassed Brussels to pursue its own vaccine procurement strategy, it…
The myth of Saint Jacinda
Every time I read another excitable media article about New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern, I am reminded of an…
Central Europe’s vaccine scepticism problem
Countries around the world are in a race against time to vaccinate their populations against Covid-19. But there is one…
Why vaccine nationalism won’t end in 2021
After the EU’s behaviour last week, no one can be under any illusion about how nationalistic the pandemic has now…
The joy of my new British passport
‘Anything you want?’ says Catriona on her way out of the house to go to the shop. I’m standing at…
Could this drug offer immediate protection from Covid-19?
When Donald Trump returned to the White House after a brief spell in hospital with Covid-19 last October he made…
Did Boris Johnson do 'everything he could' to limit Covid deaths?
Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty and Simon Stevens held a very sombre press conference in Downing Street this evening to mark…
The human costs of an ‘Australian-style’ quarantine system
Richard Curtis’ iconic Love Actually airport scenes may fall on the wrong side of saccharine, but they capture something of…
Is this the key to understanding Covid immunity?
Just how strong an immunity do Covid patients develop after they have acquired the infection and how long does it…
The tragedy behind every Covid death
On a grey January morning, at a small, sparsely attended ceremony in a chapel in North London, we said goodbye…
Pleasant, cheerful and a little exhausting: Graham Norton on Virgin Radio reviewed
In my parents’ house, the radio is always tuned to one of two stations: Magic FM and LBC. When Magic…
Actors will be in trouble if the Bridge Theatre's latest experiment catches on
Flight has been hailed as a new form of dramatic presentation — prefab theatre. It’s great to look at. A…
British opera companies and orchestras must start investing in native talent
Brexit and Covid have pushed us out of the common musical market and thrown us back on homegrown sprouts. Good, says Norman Lebrecht
Has Covid killed the EU's dream of open borders?
‘All non-essential travel should be strongly discouraged both within the country and of course across borders,’ Ursula von der Leyen,…
Has the current wave peaked?
Yesterday, the news was dominated by Imperial College’s React study which suggested – in contrast to the fall in recorded…
Why 2021 could be the year of economic Armageddon
The British economy is wrapped in bandages – we won’t know whether the wound has scabbed or turned septic until…
No-deal Brexit planning has been a lifesaver
The port of Dover has been closed down. The Eurotunnel isn’t carrying any freight for a couple of days. The…
How sure can we be that Britain's Tier 4 lockdown will work?
How certain should we be of the government’s claim that the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is 70 per cent more transmissible…
