covid
How the Sputnik vaccine brought down Slovakia’s Prime Minister
March was a dark month for Slovakia. Covid cases and deaths in the country were among the highest in Europe,…
Boris Johnson’s vaccine problem
On the day that people are finally allowed to gather in groups of six outside, tennis games get underway and wild…
Boris tries to avoid a vaccine war
After France’s Europe Minister became the latest politician to threaten a vaccine export ban on the UK, Boris Johnson used today’s…
Vaccines should mean more freedom – not less
Do vaccines lead to freedom – or to more lockdown rules? That very question would have seemed bizarre a few…
Why are Covid conspiracies so appealing?
The recent decision by a several European countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine will have thrown petrol…
Let’s call time on Britain’s gerontocracy
The boomers are eating their grandchildren. They don’t see it this way, of course, but they are doing it nonetheless.…
Culture shock
Richard Bratby on the post-Covid exodus of talent from the performing arts
Don’t blame the EU for the latest Covid vaccine clash
Far from subsiding, as it seemed to be doing last week, the European war over the AstraZeneca vaccine has intensified.…
After Covid, get ready for the Great Acceleration
Before the pandemic struck, there was talk of a ‘Great Stagnation’ – the idea that the world economy was doomed…
Corruption affects everything in Palestine – even vaccines
Visit certain parts of the West Bank and you’ll encounter mansions owned by senior officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA).…
The EU’s ugly vaccine nationalism
We have to rid the world of vaccine nationalism. No one is protected until we are all protected. And we…
Why we shouldn’t worry about Covid super strains
Should we worry about new Covid variants? Much has been made in recent weeks about the potential for new Covid…
Is the news making us unwell?
Since the start of the pandemic I’ve been observing friends and family and their reactions to the virus. Broadly speaking…
The West’s vaccine complacency
Today, in their first bilateral summit, Joe Biden will meet (virtually) Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Among other things…
Oxford’s remarkable vaccine success
It is worth taking a moment to stand back and applaud Sarah Gilbert and the Oxford vaccine team’s achievement. The…
Can the EU be trusted to introduce vaccine passports?
The contracts were badly drafted. The orders were late. Too few resources were made available for the scale of the…
The battle for the soul of the Jewish community
There are two groups in the Jewish community – mainstream Jews who, while still religious, do their best to assimilate…
Why do old people have fewer antibodies after the vaccine?
The UK policy of delaying second doses of the Pfizer vaccine has been criticised by some as risky, with Pfizer…
Why Eastern Europe is looking to Russia and China for vaccines
With Central and Eastern European countries still gripped by Covid-19, the EU’s slow vaccine rollout has offered little solace in…
Is Boris Johnson opening the way for vaccine passports?
The government’s position on vaccine passports is a cause of continuing intrigue. Although Downing Street has insisted on several occasions…
How effective are the Covid vaccines?
Reports have filtered through this morning about Public Health England’s assessment of the efficacy of the two vaccines so far…
Hungary’s vaccine strategy risks showing up the EU
You have to admire Hungary’s chutzpah. Not only has it bypassed Brussels to pursue its own vaccine procurement strategy, it…
The myth of Saint Jacinda
Every time I read another excitable media article about New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern, I am reminded of an…
Central Europe’s vaccine scepticism problem
Countries around the world are in a race against time to vaccinate their populations against Covid-19. But there is one…
Why vaccine nationalism won’t end in 2021
After the EU’s behaviour last week, no one can be under any illusion about how nationalistic the pandemic has now…
