Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has described as “extremely good news” data showing that a single dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine reduces risk of hospitalisation in over-80s by more than 80%. (See 5.34pm.) He announced the findings at a No 10 press conference. Describing it in more detail, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, also said that data on individuals aged over 70 showed that for both Pfizer and the AstraZeneca jabs there was vaccine effectiveness against illness of approximately 60% after one dose. Van-Tam went on: [This data] shows us how, if we are patient and we give this vaccine programme time to have its full effect, it is going to hopefully take us into a very different world in the next few months. Hancock ended the press conference by saying the link between Covid infections and deaths had now been broken. He said. The effectiveness of the vaccine on protecting people, and on reducing transmission, is critical to the roadmap [for lifting lockdown restrictions] ... The data that we’ve published today shows that the roadmap is achievable, because it shows that we will be able to break the link from cases through to hospitalisations and to deaths, and until now in the pandemic that link from cases through to hospitalisations and deaths has been unbreakable. And we have demonstrated with the data today that the vaccines can break that link, and that is down to the power of science. So it’s good news for everybody. Boris Johnson has denied hotel quarantine was brought in too slowly, as a nationwide search to track down a person infected with a coronavirus “variant of concern” that originated in Brazil gets under way.
Boris Johnson has said the recovery might be “much stronger” than pessimists expect. His economic forecast ahead of the budget was noticeably more upbeat than Rishi Sunak’s, because the chancellor has been instead stressing the need for the government to take measures to bring the deficit under control. (See 2.45pm.) Downing Street has dismissed suggestions that Boris Johnson has raised unrealistic hopes for people hoping to be able to go on holiday abroad this summer. (See 1.38pm.) Britain’s manufacturers suffered from mounting supply chain disruption in February as Brexit and the third Covid lockdown weighed down growth in factory production, according to a survey. The alleged leakers of a controversial Labour party report into its handling of antisemitism should not be named because it would risk harm to potentially innocent individuals, the high court has ruled. Ministers will make non-fatal strangulation a specific criminal offence punishable by five years’ imprisonment following pressure from campaigners. That’s all from me for today. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.