Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Covid pandemic in UK 'will be over by next year spring'

Covid pandemic in UK 'will be over by next year spring'

COVID-19 pandemic will be over next year in England, UK’s top scientists have claimed, adding that the worst in the UK is “almost over”, though a “difficult winter" is still expected this year. 

Professor Linda Bauld, Edinburgh University scientist, has said that “if we can get through” the winter, the pandemic in the UK should come to an end in 2022, just over two years after it started, reports said.


Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College, London, too has claimed that despite "a few flares and outbreaks" in Europe this winter, in the countries with high rates of vaccination, including the UK, the pandemic phase of the virus will be over by the spring.

"We are seeing the lights at the end of the tunnel," BBC quoted Balloux in a report on Monday (9).

Over three-quarters of the UK's adults have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine as the rollout continues in the country, as per figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care today (10). 

A total of 86,780,455 doses have been administered in the UK, with 47,091,889 people receiving the first dose (89 per cent) and 39,688,566 people receiving both doses (75 per cent).

The government is working closely with the National Health Services to make it as easy as possible to get a vaccine, including through ‘grab a jab’ pop-up vaccine sites across the country, including one seen at London-based club Heaven last weekend as well as in football stadiums and festivals across the country, the department said.

The young population, which was reportedly showing a slowdown in Covid jab take-up, is now showing lesser vaccine hesitancy, reports said.

In those aged 18 to 21, it almost halved from 9 per cent to 5 per cent, said Office for National Statistics survey which also showed hesitancy has fallen from 14 per cent to 11 per cent in people aged 16 and 17 – who only qualified for the jab last week.

More For You

Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

Thangam Debbonaire

Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

FORMER Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire has taken her seat in the House of Lords after being awarded a life peerage last month.

The 58-year-old, who represented Bristol West for Labour from 2015 until July’s general election, wore the traditional scarlet robes during her introductory ceremony. She will now be known as Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney.

Keep ReadingShow less
Samir Shah: BBC must do more to reflect UK's diversity
Dr Samir Shah

Samir Shah: BBC must do more to reflect UK's diversity

BBC chairman Samir Shah insisted that the corporation must do much more to ensure its staff reflects the country as a whole, as it needs more 'variety and diversity'.

He added that diversity should not be limited to ethnicity, where progress has been made, but should also include diversity of thought, particularly by including more voices from the northern working class.

Keep ReadingShow less
starmer-zelensky

Keir Starmer welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky to Downing Street last week.

UK played a key role as Ukraine ready to accept ceasefire proposal: Report

THE UK played a key role in facilitating discussions between Ukraine and the US over a proposed ceasefire with Russia, according to a report.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed readiness for a 30-day ceasefire but stated that it is up to the US to persuade Russia to agree. Talks on the proposal took place in Saudi Arabia.

Keep ReadingShow less
pakistan train siege reuters

A passenger, who was rescued from a train after separatist militants attacked it, receives medical aid at the Mach Railway Station in Mach, Balochistan, Pakistan, March 11, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)

Pakistan train siege: 155 hostages freed, 27 militants killed

PAKISTAN security forces launched a "full-scale" operation on Wednesday to rescue train passengers taken hostage by militants in the southwest, security sources said. Over the past 24 hours, 155 hostages have been freed.

The train, carrying more than 450 passengers, was seized at the entrance of a tunnel in a remote frontier district. An unknown number of hostages remain captive.

Keep ReadingShow less