vaccine
Von der Leyen has learnt nothing from the EU’s vaccine fiasco
As non-apology apologies go, it was right up there with the best of them. Speaking to MEPs today, the president…
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…
Calling the shots
How the Vaccine Taskforce did it
Diary
My great-great-grandmother, born on a Barbadian plantation and transported to what was British Guiana in the 19th century, gave rise…
A boost for the Tories
Imagine for a minute what British politics would be like without a Covid vaccine. The cabinet would be deeply, and…
Von der Leyen gets that sinking feeling
HMS Britain seems to be a nippier beast after her Brexit refit. That is, at least, according to EU Commission…
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…
Can Spain’s faith in the EU survive Covid?
According to ancient Moorish legend, when the world was created each land was given five wishes. Spain’s first four wishes…
Portrait of the week
Home Supplies of the Pfizer vaccine (made in Belgium) were feared to be at risk from a declaration by the…
Barometer
New normal Why have so many people started saying ‘normalcy’ rather than ‘normality’? — Normalcy has been traced back to…
Shots fired
The vaccine wars are turning nasty
Germany has just undermined the EU’s vaccine argument
Germany’s vaccine committee has advised the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine only be given to under-65s. The announcement marks a major twist in a…
How the EU vaccine row could escalate
The EU is now insisting that AstraZeneca use vaccine produced at its UK site to make up for a shortfall in…
Is the EU to blame for AstraZeneca’s vaccine shortage?
The important difference between AstraZeneca’s relationship with the UK and its relationship with the EU – and the reason it…
The EU’s vaccine catastrophe is a crisis of its own making
As news emerges that both Pfizer and AstraZeneca are cutting supplies of their Covid-19 vaccines to the EU by up…
Diary
Monday started with me opening my bedroom windows to let what little light there is come through, only to find…
Barometer
Bad service Economic growth fell by 2.6% in November, the month of the second lockdown, compared with falls of 7.3%…
The Spectator’s Notes
‘Postcode lottery!’ people scream when one area feels less well treated than another in a public service — in this…
My vaccine approval process
Has the coup happened yet? You have the advantage over me. It was supposed to have taken place on Sunday.…
Portrait of the week
Home The government undertook to offer a first dose of vaccine to the adult population of the UK by September.…
The long road to normality
The government’s most important economic policy is its vaccination programme. The speed at which people are immunised will determine when…
A lost generation
At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Chris Whitty often made the point that a pandemic kills in two ways:…
How effective has the Covid vaccine been in Israel?
The world’s eyes are on Israel at the moment, as the country continues its phenomenally fast roll-out of the Pfizer…
