Covid-19: Vaccines for 32 and 33-year-olds in England, and should children have jab?on May 22, 2021 at 4:09 am

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Saturday morning. We’ll have another update for you tomorrow.

The vaccine rollout is moving further down the age range – and now the NHS says people aged 32 and 33 in England can book in for their first jabs from Saturday. Text message invitations will also be sent out over the next few days. More than 37.5 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of the jab – and 21.6 million second doses have been given. The other UK nations are already offering jabs to younger age groups – people aged 30 and over are eligible in Scotland, over-18s in Wales and over-25s in Northern Ireland. To find out when you’ll get the vaccine, head here.

As more and more adults are jabbed, one question keeps coming up: what about children? Some countries are cracking on – the US has already immunised around 600,000 children aged between 12 and 15 and expects to have enough safety data to go even younger next year. The UK has yet to come to a decision on children. There is a scientific question – will vaccinating children save lives? – which is complex as the answer may vary from country to country. There is also a moral and ethical dimension if doses destined for children would save more lives if they were sent to vulnerable adults in other countries. Our health correspondent James Gallagher has more.

Scientists realised early on in the pandemic that traces of the virus could be found in sewage, so for a while the government has been analysing wastewater to spot where there might be local outbreaks. But now, waste testing is being ramped up to cover two thirds of England’s population. Sewage samples are being taken at wastewater treatment plants and sent to a new lab in Exeter. The approach is also being used to monitor the Indian variant. And one professor told the BBC he reckons this tactic will continue post-Covid to spot other pathogens, like flu.

The BBC’s business correspondent Katie Prescott was out in Brighton last night to see how people in the seaside city were making the most of restrictions being lifted. It was the first Friday night since pubs and restaurants were allowed to open indoors in England. Everywhere we go, someone uses the word “surreal”, she writes. One lady, dressed up for her belated 50th, said she had coined the time “going inside out” rather than going “out out”. Another lady says “life is meant for living and we are living it!”. Read the full piece here.

It’s a big night for entertainment tonight – the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Rotterdam in the Netherlands at 20:00 BST. Last year’s contest was cancelled due to the pandemic, but this year’s is going ahead, albeit with some changes. There will still be an audience though – 3,500 people will be in the arena and the event is an official Covid trial. Meanwhile, Glastonbury – which has been cancelled for a second year in a row – will host a one-off live stream concert tonight. The five-hour pre-recorded event will include Coldplay, Jorja Smith, George Ezra and Kano playing at Worthy Farm.

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With restrictions set to ease further in Northern Ireland on Monday, and following the latest relaxation of rules in England, Scotland and Wales, head here to find out what the UK’s roadmap for lifting lockdown is.

Find further information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page.

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