Covid UK news – live: Latest cases as minister expects ‘no jab, no job’ policy from some firms

Israel’s president Isaac Herzog has received a third shot of a Covid-19 vaccine as he kicks off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 – a key part of efforts to counter the Delta variant of the virus.

Mr Herzog was accompanied on Friday by prime minister Naftali Bennett, who urged the importance of further measures to fight the pandemic.

“Israel is a pioneer in going ahead with the third dose for older people of the age of 60 and above,” Mr Bennett said.

“The fight against the Covid pandemic is a global fight. The only way we can defeat Covid is together.”

Labour has warned that Boris Johnson risks allowing a new Covid variant to “run rampant” through the UK by further easing travel restrictions with the EU and US.

Ministers announced this week that people visiting from the US and the EU who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus will soon be allowed to enter England without the need to quarantine.

Our reporter, Chiara Giordano, has the full story below:

The government will not go as far as requiring Covid vaccine passports for entry to shops or pubs, according to transport secretary Grant Shapps.

When asked by ITV’s Good Morning Britain about concerns over the proposals, Mr Shapps said: “I don’t know why this is particularly controversial – nine out of 10 people have had their first vaccinations and are going on to have their second, so most people have already had their vaccinations anyway – and I’m talking about adults who have had their vaccinations anyway.

“So, for most people this doesn’t matter one way or the other. It does protect not just your life but other people’s lives when you get vaccinated, so of course, as a society, we should be encouraging it.”

He added: “We won’t go as far as requiring it to enter a shop or the pub, we will for very close contact things like going to nightclubs – other countries are for international travel – so I think there is precious little reason not to be vaccinated, every good reason to be vaccinated.

“Why wouldn’t we want to save lives? It’s just obvious to me.”

England’s top midwife has urged expectant mothers to get the Covid-19 vaccine after new data showed that the overwhelming majority of pregnant women hospitalised with the virus had not had a jab.

The new figures, released on Thursday, revealed that no pregnant women with both doses of the vaccine had been admitted to hospital.

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Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said it would be a “good idea” for companies in the UK to insist their staff are fully-vaccinated against Covid-19 before returning to the office.

However, the minister said that the government would not force the policy on companies amid concerns about a “no jab, no jab” policy leading to discrimination.

Our reporter, Adam Forrest, has the full story below:

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has defended the government’s date of 16 August for easing self-isolation rules for those who are fully-vaccinated and come into contact with a positive Covid-19 case.

Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford confirmed this week that 7 August would be the day where double-jabbed adults in his country would be able to avoid isolation.

When asked if ministers should look again at the date, Mr Shapps told Sky News: “We are always keeping it under very close review.

“The reality is that people putting themselves in self-isolation has been a factor in saving a lot of lives because it turns out that one in three people who are requested to self-isolate do end up developing symptoms, so it is, if you like, the only remaining measure that is being taken at the moment, because of course all the other measures have been dropped at the fourth unlock stage on the 19 July.”

He added: “So we are being, if you like, slightly cautious about it, but we have got systems in place now where testing can take place at 2,000 different locations we’ll have for key workers to be tested so they don’t have to self-isolate in advance of the 16 August when we will then not require people to self-isolate but instead be tested if they are pinged or asked to self-isolate.”

Pregnant women should be reassured about the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine as more than 50,000 women in the UK and more than 130,000 in the US have had the jab in pregnancy without issues, an Oxford researcher has said.

Researchers have found that more than 99 per cent of pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid-19 were unvaccinated – with the Delta variant posing a significantly greater risk of severe disease.

Marian Knight, professor of maternal and child population health at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “I think pregnant women can be reassured about the safety of the vaccine.

“And we need to emphasise the benefits, not only to them but we know that antibodies are passed on to their babies as well, so it’s really important not just to prevent illness in you as a pregnant woman, but also to prevent the consequences of illness for your baby.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has challenged the government to bring forward the date on which fully-vaccinated people in England can avoid self-isolation if they are “pinged” by the NHS Covid app.

Sir Keir said that ministers needed to move the 16 August date to 7 August in line with Scotland and Wales to bring an end to a “summer of chaos” for hundreds of thousands of people who have been asked to self-isolate.

Our reporter, Adam Forrest, has the full story below:

More than 50 Tory MPs are threatening to vote against the government’s “completely unnecessary and unworkable” plans for Covid vaccine passports in nightclubs and other indoor venues later this year, according to reports.

The Daily Mail reported on Thursday night that many Conservatives were ready to rebel over the proposals, which would see certificates proving vaccination needed to enter nightclubs and potentially universities from the end of September.

One senior Tory MP told the paper that there was “almost universal objection” in the party to the plans, with Wellingborough MP Peter Bone warning that the proposals would create a “two-class society” and introduce “identity papers by the back door”.

Meanwhile, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, told Sky News that such passports for domestic use would be a “massive step and a misguided one”.

“The policy would discriminate against the young, against those who have medical or ethical reasons why they can’t be vaccinated and many ethnic minority groups,” Sir Graham said.

“Fundamentally, people’s decision on whether to be vaccinated or not must be a personal decision for them to make based on their own assessment of the benefits and risks.”