It is too early to start considering lifting lockdown restrictions in the UK even as vaccine targets for the most vulnerable appear to be on track, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
Dr Clive Dix, chairman of the UK’s vaccines task force, said he was “very optimistic” that a target of vaccinating all over-50s by May would be reached.
He said the UK was also "before the game" preparing for coronavirus mutations.
Dr Dix's optimism came as Mr Johnson warned against lifting lockdown orders early, as infection rates remain "very high" and political leaders in the EU were forced to defend the bloc's approach to delivering vaccines to member states and its sluggish start.
“I want to stress that it is still early days and we have rates of infection in this country, still very, very high,” Mr Johnson said in a video shared on his Twitter account.
“And more people, almost twice as many people in our hospitals with Covid now than there were back at the peak in April.
“So do remember how tough it still is, how high that rate of infection is, and that we must, must work together to get it done. So that’s the fundamental thing to get right. Stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.”
He said 90 per cent of 75 to 79-year-olds and almost 90 per cent of the over-80s had been reached. Almost 11 million vaccinations had been administered.
“On February 22, I’m going to be setting out a road map as far as we’re able to, giving everybody some more clarity insofar as we can about how we hope to unlock, beginning, as you know I’m sure, with schools, we hope very much from March 8. But trying to set out the beginnings of a road map for a way forward for the whole country.
“As the vaccine programme intensifies and more and more people acquire immunity, [there will be] a steady programme for beginning to unlock.”
Anger is building in the EU as it lags behind inoculation campaigns in Israel, the UAE, the UK and US.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen defended the EU's response, saying countries operating on their own could move more quickly.
"I'm aware that a country might be a speedboat and the EU more a tanker. But this is the strength of the EU,” she said.
In Britain, Dr Dix said they would do everything possible to meet the inoculation goal.
"We will work day and night to ensure we meet whatever target that feasibly can be met," he said.
"So, I'm very optimistic that we will meet the May target."
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
