Boris Johnson visits Northampton to call out anti-vaxxers labelling them 'completely wrong' and 'counterproductive'

Boris Johnson visits Northampton to call out anti-vaxxers labelling them 'completely wrong' and 'counterproductive' The Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in Northampton this afternoon (January 6) to discuss anti-vaxxers.

Mr Johnson visited the county vaccination centre at Moulton Park where he said the people putting 'mumbo jumbo' on social media about Covid-19 vaccines are 'completely wrong'. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also: 

• Covid: Anti-vaccine campaigns are mumbo jumbo, says PM BBC News
• Boris Johnson in Northampton: Prime Minister thanks hospital staff and volunteers at vaccination centre Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• 100,000 critical workers to get daily lateral flow tests from next week Northamptonshire Telegraph
• COVID-19: Boris Johnson attacks anti-vax 'mumbo jumbo' as minister says Omicron peak will be over 'relatively soon' Sky News

2022/23 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance: what you need to know

2022/23 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance: what you need to know This briefing provides a summary and analysis of NHS England and NHS Improvement's latest operational planning guidance and priorities for the service in 2022/23. NHS Confederation

See also: 

• 2022/23 priorities and operational planning guidance NHS England

Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season

Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season National influenza and COVID-19 report, monitoring COVID-19 activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses. UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Record level of flu jab uptake in those aged 65 and over UK Health Security Agency
• Pre-departure testing removed for vaccinated travellers UK Health Security Agency
• Research: COVID-19 vaccine weekly surveillance reports (weeks 39 to 1, 2021 to 2022) UK Health Security Agency

Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK : 6 January 2022

Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK : 6 January 2022 An estimated 1.3 million people living in private households in the UK (2.0% of the population) were experiencing self-reported long COVID (symptoms persisting for more than four weeks after the first suspected coronavirus (COVID-19) infection that were not explained by something else) as of 6 December 2021. Office for National Statistics

See also: 

• UK survey suggests 1.3 million have long Covid BBC News

Covid: Deadly Omicron should not be called mild, warns WHO

Covid: Deadly Omicron should not be called mild, warns WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against describing the Omicron variant as mild, saying it is killing people across the world.

Recent studies suggest that Omicron is less likely to make people seriously ill than previous Covid variants.

But the record number of people catching it has left health systems under severe pressure, said WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. BBC News

See also: 

• Covid: Mask refusals in England's secondary schools causing concern BBC News
• Covid: The Army sends 200 personnel to support the NHS in London BBC News
• Covid: Evidence on face masks in schools 'inconclusive' BBC News
• 'Crisis actor' conspiracy theory: How anti-vax activists targeted a Covid patient BBC News
• Covid UK: Yet ANOTHER study suggests London's Omicron crisis has peaked The Daily Mail
• At least 5,000 Covid patients in England are NOT primarily in hospital for virus: analysis The Daily Mail
• Hospital stays for Covid patients are getting shorter The Daily Mail
• Hospitals outside London ‘expect more Covid patients than last January’  The Guardian
• UK reports 179,756 new Covid cases as Omicron surge continues The Guardian
• IHU: How dangerous is new Covid variant and where has it spread? The Independent
• How effective are the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines against Omicron? The Independent
• Scam PCR test text message claiming to be from NHS taken down The Independent
• COVID-19: Steep rise in hospital admissions among elderly will send shudders through NHS Sky News

UK faces legal action for approving firm accused of using forced labour as PPE supplier

UK faces legal action for approving firm accused of using forced labour as PPE supplier The UK government is facing legal action over its decision to keep using a Malaysian company accused of using forced labour as a supplier of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the NHS.

Lawyers at the London-based law firm Wilson Solicitors have filed for a judicial review of the government’s decision to name the UK subsidiary of the Malaysian company Supermax as one of the approved suppliers in a new £6bn contract for disposable gloves for NHS workers. The Guardian

See also:

• Tory peer Michelle Mone secretly involved in PPE firm she referred to government The Guardian

Are free prescriptions being scrapped? Why there are fears of NHS medicine charges for over-60s from April

Are free prescriptions being scrapped? Why there are fears of NHS medicine charges for over-60s from April Vulnerable older people may have to choose between food and medicine if the Government increases the age at which they can access free NHS prescriptions, campaigners have warned.

Raising the upper age exemption in England from 60 to 66, in line with the state pension age, would be a “disaster for tens of thousands of people who may face a new barrier to accessing their vital medicines”, said the Prescription Charges Coalition. iNews

First case of human H5-type bird flu found in UK

First case of human H5-type bird flu found in UK A duck expert has been identified as the first person in Britain to be infected with a deadly strain of H5 bird flu.

Alan Gosling, 79, tested positive for the virus during routine swabbing after the flock of Muscovy ducks he kept at his home in Buckfastleigh, Devon, became infected and were culled last week. The Daily Telegraph

See also: 

• Human case of avian flu detected in UK UK Health Security Agency
• Human case of bird flu detected in the UK BBC News
• Bird flu: ‘Very rare’ case detected in person in southwest England The Independent

Global dementia cases will TRIPLE by 2050 unless people adopt healthier lifestyles, study warns

Global dementia cases will TRIPLE by 2050 unless people adopt healthier lifestyles, study warns Dementia cases will triple by 2050 unless people adopt healthier lifestyles and education improves, a major study suggests.

Experts warn of a potential dementia time bomb, with 153million living with the condition worldwide within decades.

This is up from 57million in 2019, with the soaring numbers fuelled by growing and ageing populations as well as poor diets and a lack of exercise. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (open access) The Lancet Public Health