Friday 19 March 2021 COVID-19 - Weekly Round-up

COVID-19 – Weekly Round-up

Friday 19 March 2021
Heart of London Business Alliance is committed to ensuring our members receive the support they need while the
situation in relation to COVID-19 is fast-changing. Our Daily Bulletin provides you with an update on the important
announcements and guidance from the Government. In addition, it is recommended that our members monitor the
GOV.UK website for guidance regarding COVID-19.

Together with our local Member of Parliament, Nickie Aiken, Heart of London will continue to lobby Government
for support for our members and your employees during this difficult time.

Lumpy supply to slow spring vaccination effort
17th March: On Wednesday, the NHS released a ‘technical letter’ that outlined imminent issues in vaccination supply.
Five million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccination, expected to be delivered in April from the Serum Institute
in India, have been delayed. The Institute has been tasked with supplying the UK with ten million doses of the
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and while the first five million have been successfully delivered in recent weeks, the
second shipment has faced difficulties. Explaining those difficulties to MPs in the House of Commons on Thursday,
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, revealed that 1.7 million doses from the batch of five million needed to be retested
for their stability and that this was ultimately the cause of the delay. Outlining the need to adapt, the letter from the
NHS asks organisations to “ensure no further appointments are uploaded” to booking systems for next month, so
that the health service can ensure no one goes without their scheduled second jab.

This week’s developments come as the clearest blow to the vaccine effort so far, which has seen over 25 million
people in the UK already receive their first jab. While plans for April may no longer be as “bumper” as once thought,
ministers have been quick to assure the populace that current targets of inoculating all those in the top nine risk
groups by 15 April, and to offer all adults in the UK a jab by July, are still going to be met.

What about Pfizer?

While manufacturing delays prove an issue for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, it is uncertainty emanating from
Europe that hangs over supply of the Pfizer jab. Vaccine trade across the English Channel has long been an uneasy
point of contention between London and Brussels, and the situation is again re-energised with a new bout of tension
following remarks made by EU Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen on Wednesday. Von der Leyen,

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demanded “reciprocity and proportionality” in vaccine exports, stating that she wanted to be sure Europe “gets its
fair share”.

Currently the UK is the number one export destination for jabs produced in the EU, with ten million doses passing
across the Channel in the past six weeks, from Pfizer’s production facility in Belgium. While the transfer of vaccines
across borders is an issue primarily concerning the private producers, animosity is most certainly present on a
governmental level. Responding to Von der Leyen, Health Secretary Matt Hancock maintained the UK’s position that
there is no ban on the export of vaccines produced in the UK: simply the contract signed by the Government with
AstraZeneca ensures that the first 100 million doses produced remain in the country.

The rhetoric comes as a number of countries in the EU temporarily suspended rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca
vaccine due to safety concerns. Following assurances on the vaccine’s efficacy and safety by both the European
Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), countries including Germany, France and Spain
have resumed the vaccine’s rollout.

Scottish roadmap emerges, Wales and NI look to April

16th March: On Tuesday, the Scottish Government outlined further plans for the easing of restrictions, detailing
plans until 17 May. Setting out a timetable across the next two months, Nicola Sturgeon informed the Scottish public
that ‘Stay at Home’ regulations are due to be lifted on 2 April and replaced with ‘Stay Local’ guidance. The next major
changes will be introduced on 5 April when hairdressers, garden centres and non-essential click and collect services
will be permitted to open. More college students will also return to in-person education at this point. The most
detailed tranche of changes however, will take effect from 26 April with measures outlined including:

    •   All retail premises, libraries, museums and tourist accommodation able to open.
    •   All restrictions on journeys within Scotland lifted.
    •   Up to four people from two households able to socialise indoors in public places.
    •   Up to 50 people able to attend weddings and funerals.
    •   Gyms and swimming pools allowed to open for individual exercise.

Indoor socialising within private homes between groups of four is expected to be permitted from 17 May, as is the
opening of cinemas, with small scale events also set to restart. Nicola Sturgeon indicated that she hoped to move the
nation into alert level one from early June, before the nation moves to alert level zero at the end of the month.
Sturgeon in her Holyrood address, thanked the Scottish people for their sacrifices thus far and stated that they had
earned the right to look to the summer with optimism. However, the First Minister stressed that this was not the
end-point, imploring citizens to continue to follow restrictions, or jeopardise the implementation of the plans.

No such detail in Wales, Northern Ireland

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With the path to normality now outlined clearly in Scotland, pressure is mounting on those leaders in Wales and
Northern Ireland to do the same. The Welsh Government, headed up by First Minister Mark Drakeford, concluded
their most recent review of restrictions on Friday, setting out planned changes until 1 April. Under these plans,
outdoor sports facilities opened on 13 March while a rule of four also came into effect, allowing four people from
two households to meet outside. Additionally, all primary school pupils in the nation returned to in-person teaching
on Monday as did those in qualification years at secondary schools. Hairdressers and barbers are now also able to
open by appointment. The final set of changes outlined will come into effect next Monday with garden centres
reopening and restrictions on the sale of non-essential items being removed from supermarkets. Speaking on these
plans, Drakeford stated that he hoped to allow non-essential retail to open from 12 April, but that a final decision
will be taken at the start of next month.

Officials in Northern Ireland have been similarly reticent to make promises into the future, with First Minister Arlene
Foster defending her Government’s cautious stance as a way of ensuring the nation does not go backwards. The
Northern Ireland roadmap currently extends to 12 April, at which point all children will have returned to school and
non-essential retailers will be able to operate click-and-collect services. Like in Cardiff however, easing of restrictions
beyond this point remains somewhat unknown.

Other News
•   16th March: Surge testing has been deployed in areas within Southwark (SE5) and in parts of Harrow (HA2 and
    HA3) this week, as the Government continues its efforts to suppress the South African variant of Covid-19.
    Similar efforts are also being made in areas in Sandwell (DY4 and B69).

•   15th March: On Monday, the Government published a new call for evidence, seeking views “on the role of
    COVID-status certification in the UK’s recovery from the pandemic”. The review led by Michael Gove is set to
    look at whether the provision of such certification would be beneficial for domestic use and to allow the economy
    to re-open. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is heading up a separate workstream looking at the use of such
    certification to benefit the international travel industry.

•   13th March: On Saturday, the Government revealed that over 48,000 businesses across the UK had registered
    their interest in gaining access to the Government’s free workplace testing programme. Under the programme,
    employers will receive shipments of rapid lateral flow tests to allow members of staff to be tested before they
    enter the workplace. Applications to join the programme are still open, closing on 31 March.

                     Contact matt.arnold@heartoflondonbid.co.uk should you have any queries.

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