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2,941 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, the four priority groups that the noble Baroness alludes to are: care home residents; residential care workers; the 80-plus; healthcare workers; social care workers; 75…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantMy Lords, the decisions about further restrictions in this country are a cross-departmental matter and are, frankly, above my pay grade. To address the noble Baroness’s point…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantMy noble friend asks a very challenging question. The honest truth is that we have to look at the systems whereby that data is exchanged. CMOs around the world have extremely…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantThe noble Baroness alludes to a world of analytical complexity, which is very much what we have to look forward to. The way in which this new variant has popped up and has been…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsThe noble Baroness is right that we have the vaccine today but that does not mean that we will not need to be testing, distancing and washing tomorrow. In fact, there will be a…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, that is a decision for the NHS deployment team. I do not know the precise answer but frankly, based on experience I would guess that NHS environments are probably the…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsI pay tribute to the role of dispensing GPs, who will play an incredibly important role in the rollout. However, I reject the suggestion that any spike in care homes is in any way…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, no-shows are being managed extremely effectively under the current arrangements. We are extremely grateful to the British public for their perseverance.13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, the SIREN study is an important study on antibody protection. My understanding is that it is due to be published very soon indeed, and when it is, I will be glad to…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, I would put the truism slightly differently: the vaccine makes you pretty safe, but it does not mean you are not dangerous to other people. I think we all have to get…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, that is a very good reminder. I will be glad to return to the department and check that the bilingual material is as she asks, and I will write to her with the details.13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantMy Lords, I am afraid that I just do not recognise the noble Lord’s proposition. Hundreds, if not thousands, of new variants are appearing all the time. Many of them have passed…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantMy Lords, the noble Lord has more medical expertise than me to be able to answer that question, but the briefing that I have is that the significant mutation in the Kent variant…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantI am terribly sorry but the noble Baroness is not right about that chronology. Through backward tracing and by looking at historic data, we were able to identify that the variant…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantI categorically reject that analysis. All the vaccines are effective. The MHRA and the JCVI have been explicit about that, and I invite the noble Lord to look at the data.13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VariantThe exchange of information between the scientific community has worked extremely well during this pandemic and epidemic, and I pay tribute to it for the open-hearted and…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, my noble friend rightly picks me up on my use of words. I profoundly thank all those in the armed services who have made a contribution. They bring particular qualities…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsMy Lords, on turbo-charging the vaccine deployment, the two key focuses are: first, on very large centres, which can have a very large throughput of people, as these will make an…13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsThe noble Lord makes the point extremely well, and I agree.13 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: VaccinationsThat is a gruesome prospect and not one that I like to see in a debate like today’s, where there is so much positivity. However, the noble Lord is entirely right that mutations…13 Jan 2021