UK records 16,578 more cases of coronavirus and 533 deaths

Britain’s daily Covid-19 cases are still plateauing more than a week after the national lockdown ended, official statistics revealed today after health chiefs recorded another 16,578 infections.

Department of Health figures showed cases plummeted during the first two weeks of England’s second shutdown. But the curve began to flatten a week before the draconian measures were lifted, suggesting Britons may have grown tired of the restrictions on their daily lives.

Today’s figures are a 2.5 per cent rise on the Government’s positive tally from last Wednesday, when officials added another 16,170 cases to the total.

Deaths from the virus fell by 17.7 per cent compared to last week, after 533 victims were posted on the dashboard compared to 648 seven days ago.

The cases come after the UK’s world-first Covid-19 vaccine rollout ran into problems within 24 hours when two NHS staff suffered an allergic reaction after receiving Pfizer’s jab.

The British medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has told anyone with a history of allergies not to get the vaccine while it investigates the cases.

The number of people set to be barred is not known, but up to 7million Britons suffer from allergies that are so severe they require medical attention, according to the NHS. 

The two staff members, who have not been named, are said to be recovering well. They suffered an anaphylactoid reaction to the vaccine, which is milder than anaphylaxis, and tends to involve a rash, shortness of breath, swelling of the face and tongue or a drop in blood pressure, the NHS says.

Professor Chris Whitty, Britain’s chief medical officer, warned today that despite the vaccine roll out lockdowns would still be needed until March because it will take time to give the vaccine to enough people.

The jab is being rolled out to the elderly, care home residents and NHS workers first – who are most vulnerable to the virus – before it is offered to the rest of the population.

But scientists say at least 60 per cent of Britons will need to get the jab – or 40million people – before the Government can start to relax restrictions without triggering a sudden surge in infections. 

In other coronavirus news:

• A cyberattack has hit the EU’s medicines agency, prompting fears vaccine data may have been stolen;
• Sir Patrick Vallance admits there is ‘no hard evidence’ 10pm pub curfews slow the spread of infection;
• Wales urges residents not to spend Christmas with their families despite a UK-wide relaxation of the rules;
• Tubes will not run overnight on New Year’s Eve to put a stop to partying revellers;
• London MP issues last minute plea to Londoners to keep following the rules as the Government prepares to decide whether to put the capital into Tier Three;
• European politicians snipe at Britain’s vaccine success, with Belgian PM gloating it was ‘made on the continent’;
• Oxford university today insisted it was not a mistake to give a half dose to volunteers in its trials following criticism;
• Coronavirus was identified in Italian boy in November 2019, study finds in latest evidence China hid the truth from the world. 

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, said today: ‘The MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday. Both are recovering well.’ 

Despite the two allergy cases the Government is today continuing to vaccinate between 5,000 and 7,000 people per day across the UK with 800,000 Pfizer doses already in hospitals and millions more on the way.

In the US vaccine trial carried out by Pfizer, 137 out of around 19,000 people given the vaccine had one or more of these reactions. But 111 who got the placebo also had allergic reactions.

Reactions to the jab can include a temperature, nausea, swelling of the arm or in severe cases feeling generally unwell with swollen lymph node glands.

A Pfizer spokesman said: ‘We have been advised by MHRA of two yellow card reports that may be associated with allergic reaction due to administration of the COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine.

‘As a precautionary measure, the MHRA has issued temporary guidance to the NHS while it conducts an investigation in order to fully understand each case and its causes. Pfizer and BioNTech are supporting the MHRA in the investigation.

‘In the pivotal phase 3 clinical trial, this vaccine was generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns reported by the independent Data Monitoring Committee. The trial has enrolled over 44,000 participants to date, over 42,000 of whom have received a second vaccination’.