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, according to officials advising the government who described this as the best way to keep up the pace of immunisations.

Some frontline workers such as police and teachers had been calling for their prioritisation on the basis of their jobs, but Professor Wei Shen Lim, Covid-19 chairman for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said such an approach could complicate the rollout.

“Following an age-based programme will be simple, and simplicity has been one of the cornerstones of the current programme in terms of speed and its success,” he told a news conference.

A year ago this week, Romania reported its first case of Covid-19, prompting the country’s strapped medical system to turn its focus to treating Covid-19 patients. As a result, many patients with other conditions — including cancer — have either been denied critical care or have stopped going to their regular appointments, fearful of becoming infected.

Romania’s government is acknowledging the problem and has announced plans to reorganise the country’s hospitals so more non-Covid-19 patients can get access to health care.

“Patients who didn’t have Covid-19 didn’t seek medical care because they were afraid of becoming infected,” Dr Andreea Moldovan, a state secretary in the health ministry, told AP.

Previously, she said, there was “a lot of pressure to have as many beds available for Covid-19 patients as possible”.

Read more here.

Sindh has reported 322 new coronavirus cases and 13 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to a statement from Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

The provincial total of infections has risen to 257,730 while the death toll has reached 4,335.

According to the statement, 10,865 tests were conducted over the last 24 hours while 273 more people recovered from Covid-19.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he would gladly accept being inoculated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine if it were offered when his turn came, Reuters reports.

“In view of the latest scientific studies, the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been proven,” Macron told reporters after a virtual European Union summit.

“My turn will come, but I’ve got time. If that’s the vaccine that’s offered to me, I will take it, of course.”

A U.S. Navy warship operating in the Middle East has a dozen cases of the novel coronavirus, while another warship in the region is investigating whether some of its members are also infected, Reuters reported.

The USS San Diego which has the confirmed cases is at port in Bahrain. It sails with about 600 sailors and Marines aboard.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, which carries some 380 sailors, is expected to pull into port for further testing. The port was not disclosed.

“Once we became aware of possible Covid-19 aboard USS San Diego (LPD 22) and USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), we took immediate actions to identify, isolate, test & treat affected Sailors & Marines aboard the two ships”, the US 5th Fleet said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia’s Gamaleya Institute and Johnson & Johnson fight the coronavirus with another virus, leaving scientists concerned the shots may lose potency if annual inoculations become necessary to fight new variants.

So-called viral vector shots — also used by several Chinese Covid-19 vaccine developers — use harmless modified viruses as vehicles, or vectors, to carry genetic information that helps the body build immunity against future infections.

However, there is a risk that the body also develops immunity to the vector itself, recognising it as an intruder and trying to destroy it.

Read full Reuters story here.

The Japanese government has said it will end a state of emergency in all but Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures at the end of this month, a week earlier than scheduled, as new coronavirus cases decline, Reuters reported.

Emergency coronavirus measures will now be removed in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu and Fukuoka prefectures, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters after a meeting of the government’s advisory panel, which approved the move.

“But the lifting comes with conditions,” Nishimura said, adding that experts on the panel wanted close monitoring of the spread of new strains of the virus and a sufficient supply of hospital beds.

They also expressed concern about a potential resurgence in cases as restrictions are eased, warning against complacency, he said.