Plus, the gravediggers who practised in the wrong place...
| Hancock hails vaccine transmission study |
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| | | We knew that Covid-19 vaccines stopped some people getting ill from the virus. But we didn't know whether the vaccines stopped people catching and spreading it. On Tuesday evening, a study - which has not been formally published - said the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab had a "substantial" effect on transmission, as well as reducing the chances of getting ill. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has hailed the news as "absolutely superb". The study, by the University of Oxford, swabbed people every week to test for the presence of the virus. If there is no virus it cannot be spread - and the numbers testing positive halved once they had been given two doses. The study also seems to support the UK government's decision to wait longer between doses, in order to give more people the first jab sooner. Protection from illness remained at 76% three months after the first dose. This rose to 82% after people were given the second dose. Read more about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine here. And read here about how France joined other European countries in banning the jab for over-65s. | |
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| Vast majority have Covid antibodies six months on |
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| Almost nine in 10 people who catch Covid-19 still have antibodies six months later, a study of almost 1,700 people suggests. This means people are unlikely to catch the virus twice in a short space of time. The data - from one of the world's largest follow-up Covid studies - also provides more detail about likely symptoms. While 26% had a cough and 28% a fever, a bigger proportion - 43% - said they lost their taste or smell. But 40% had none of these - and about 20% had no symptoms at all. | |
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| Mass detentions during pro-Navalny protests |
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| Nearly 1,400 people were detained in Russia during Tuesday's protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, rights monitors say. In Moscow, riot police were filmed beating demonstrators with batons. Mr Navalny, 44, was jailed for three-and-a-half years for violating a suspended sentence. He says the case was fabricated. He returned to Russia in January after being treated in Germany for a near-fatal nerve agent attack last August. Mr Navalny says Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the attack - which the government denies. | |
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| | | | | The men always wore masks, Tursunay Ziawudun said, even though there was no pandemic then. And they wore suits, she said, not police uniforms. Sometime after midnight, they came to the cells to select the women they wanted and took them down the corridor to a "black room", where there were no surveillance cameras. Several nights, Ziawudun said, they took her. "Perhaps this is the most unforgettable scar on me forever," she said. "I don't even want these words to spill from my mouth." | |
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| | Matthew Hill, David Campanale and Joel Gunter | BBC News | |
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| | | | Two stories dominate the front pages - the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, and the Oxford vaccine transmission study. The Daily Mail calls the study a "game changer" - while the Times says it "boosts hopes of freedom". Read all the front pages here. | |
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| | | Brexit PM demands 'urgent action' from EU on Irish border checks |
| | | | Bebo Revived platform takes on Facebook |
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| If you watch one thing today |
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| If you listen to one thing today |
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| If you read one thing today |
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