By LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s medicine regulator said anyone with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, giving fuller guidance on an earlier allergy warning about the shot.Starting with the elderly and frontline workers, Britain began mass vaccinating its population on Tuesday, part of a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there had been two reports of anaphylaxis and one report of a possible allergic reaction...…By LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s medicine regulator said anyone with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should not get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, giving fuller guidance on an earlier allergy warning about the shot.Starting with the elderly and frontline workers, Britain began mass vaccinating its population on Tuesday, part of a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there had been two reports of anaphylaxis and one report of a possible allergic reaction...WW…

By , , PARIS/LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) - European governments moved on Wednesday to halt the use of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, and a second global trial was suspended, further blows to hopes for a treatment promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump.The moves by France, Italy and Belgium followed a World Health Organization decision on Monday to pause a large trial of hydroxychloroquine due to safety concerns.A UK regulator said on Wednesday that a separate trial was also being put on hold, less than a week after it started. The study, being led by the...…By , , PARIS/LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) - European governments moved on Wednesday to halt the use of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, and a second global trial was suspended, further blows to hopes for a treatment promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump.The moves by France, Italy and Belgium followed a World Health Organization decision on Monday to pause a large trial of hydroxychloroquine due to safety concerns.A UK regulator said on Wednesday that a separate trial was also being put on hold, less than a week after it started. The study, being led by the...WW…

By , MILAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Italian and British medical experts are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory disease among infants who are arriving in hospital with high fevers and swollen arteries.Doctors in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under age 9 with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease, more common in parts of Asia.In Britain, doctors have made similar observations, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to tell...…By , MILAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Italian and British medical experts are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory disease among infants who are arriving in hospital with high fevers and swollen arteries.Doctors in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under age 9 with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease, more common in parts of Asia.In Britain, doctors have made similar observations, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to tell...WW…

By , MILAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Italian and British medical experts are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory disease among infants who are arriving in hospital with high fevers and swollen arteries.Doctors in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under age 9 with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease, more common in parts of Asia.In Britain, doctors have made similar observations, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to tell...…By , MILAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Italian and British medical experts are investigating a possible link between the coronavirus pandemic and clusters of severe inflammatory disease among infants who are arriving in hospital with high fevers and swollen arteries.Doctors in northern Italy, one of the world’s hardest-hit areas during the pandemic, have reported extraordinarily large numbers of children under age 9 with severe cases of what appears to be Kawasaki disease, more common in parts of Asia.In Britain, doctors have made similar observations, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to tell...WW…

By , , LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will have to slow its COVID-19 vaccine rollout next month due to a supply crunch caused by a delay in a shipment of millions of AstraZeneca shots from India and the need to test the stability of an additional 1.7 million doses.Supply constraints are the biggest threat to Britain’s vaccine rollout - currently the swiftest among the world’s major economies - and health officials warned that the programme would face a significant reduction in supplies from March 29.“It is true that in the short term we’re receiving fewer vaccines than we had planned for a week...…By , , LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will have to slow its COVID-19 vaccine rollout next month due to a supply crunch caused by a delay in a shipment of millions of AstraZeneca shots from India and the need to test the stability of an additional 1.7 million doses.Supply constraints are the biggest threat to Britain’s vaccine rollout - currently the swiftest among the world’s major economies - and health officials warned that the programme would face a significant reduction in supplies from March 29.“It is true that in the short term we’re receiving fewer vaccines than we had planned for a week...WW…

By , LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will see a significant reduction in the amount of COVID-19 vaccines available at the end of the month due to a cut in manufacturing supply, it said on Wednesday, in a setback to one of the world’s fastest inoculation rollouts.Britain is on track to have given a first COVID-19 shot to half of all adults in the next few days and passed 25 million first shots on Wednesday, making it the most extensive and quickest programme so far in a European country.Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the country remained on track to have vaccinated priority groups by April 15...…By , LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will see a significant reduction in the amount of COVID-19 vaccines available at the end of the month due to a cut in manufacturing supply, it said on Wednesday, in a setback to one of the world’s fastest inoculation rollouts.Britain is on track to have given a first COVID-19 shot to half of all adults in the next few days and passed 25 million first shots on Wednesday, making it the most extensive and quickest programme so far in a European country.Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the country remained on track to have vaccinated priority groups by April 15...WW…

By LONDON (Reuters) - Police and teachers will not jump to the head of the queue in the second phase of Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with people instead prioritised by age, officials advising the government said on Friday, describing this as the best way to keep up the pace of immunisations.Britain’s vaccine programme has been among the fastest in the world, meeting a government target to offer a first dose of vaccination to 15 million high-risk people by mid-February.Some frontline workers such as police and teachers had been calling for prioritisation on the basis of their...…By LONDON (Reuters) - Police and teachers will not jump to the head of the queue in the second phase of Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with people instead prioritised by age, officials advising the government said on Friday, describing this as the best way to keep up the pace of immunisations.Britain’s vaccine programme has been among the fastest in the world, meeting a government target to offer a first dose of vaccination to 15 million high-risk people by mid-February.Some frontline workers such as police and teachers had been calling for prioritisation on the basis of their...WW…

and LondonBritish researchers are to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in a world first trial aimed at finding new ways to swiftly reduce coronavirus infections as .While thousands of individual changes have arisen as the virus mutates on replication and evolves into new variants, only a tiny minority are likely to be important or change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.Among coronavirus variants currently most concerning for scientists and public health experts are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian...…and LondonBritish researchers are to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in a world first trial aimed at finding new ways to swiftly reduce coronavirus infections as .While thousands of individual changes have arisen as the virus mutates on replication and evolves into new variants, only a tiny minority are likely to be important or change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.Among coronavirus variants currently most concerning for scientists and public health experts are the so-called British, South African and Brazilian...WW…

By , LONDON (Reuters) - British researchers are to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in a world first trial aimed at finding new ways to swiftly reduce coronavirus infections as new mutated variants emerge.While thousands of individual changes have arisen as the virus mutates on replication and evolves into new variants, only a tiny minority are likely to be important or change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.Among coronavirus variants currently most concerning for scientists and public health experts are the...…By , LONDON (Reuters) - British researchers are to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in a world first trial aimed at finding new ways to swiftly reduce coronavirus infections as new mutated variants emerge.While thousands of individual changes have arisen as the virus mutates on replication and evolves into new variants, only a tiny minority are likely to be important or change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.Among coronavirus variants currently most concerning for scientists and public health experts are the...WW…

By , LONDON (Reuters) - Twenty-two police officers were injured during trouble at an unauthorised music event in London overnight where crowds attacked some patrol cars, British authorities said on Thursday.Slideshow Parties have been banned during Britain’s coronavirus lockdown, though there have been some breaches.“These are utterly vile scenes,” said Home Secretary (interior minister) Priti Patel.A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the scenes as “appalling”, adding: “Violence against the police will not be tolerated.”Police said they had been attacked when responding...…By , LONDON (Reuters) - Twenty-two police officers were injured during trouble at an unauthorised music event in London overnight where crowds attacked some patrol cars, British authorities said on Thursday.Slideshow Parties have been banned during Britain’s coronavirus lockdown, though there have been some breaches.“These are utterly vile scenes,” said Home Secretary (interior minister) Priti Patel.A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the scenes as “appalling”, adding: “Violence against the police will not be tolerated.”Police said they had been attacked when responding...WW…