In other developments today: - Covid cases among teenagers and young adults fell in England last week despite the country's outbreak ticking upwards slightly, according to official data;
- All 16 and 17 year olds are now being invited by the NHS to come forward for their Covid jabs;
- New Zealand's growing Covid outbreak which has sparked a nationwide lockdown was caused by a traveller returning from Australia who had been in hotel quarantine, it was revealed;
- Australia is sending soldiers to guard its state borders in a bid to stop Covid outbreaks from Sydney spilling over, as the Delta variant shows no sign of coming under control;
- Covid restrictions have been extended to three-year-olds in Israel, with the country now 'at war' with the Delta variant.
Meanwhile, Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) which advises the Government, said high case numbers and deaths are 'very worrying'.
And he warned that 'we just don't really know what's going to happen' as winter approaches.
Asked about the current outbreak, Professor Openshaw told Times Radio: 'I think it's very worrying. This is a very large number.
'If you think, 34,000 people, that's a lot of people testing positive, and to be seeing over 100 deaths a day at this stage, you know before schools have gone back, while the weather is still relatively good, we're not back into winter yet.
'I think we're all really anxious about what's going to happen once we return to normality.'
He added: 'We're going into the winter with really very high levels of infection out there in the community and we just don't really know what's going to happen.'
The roll-out is estimated to have averted between 91,700 and 98,700 deaths, according to the latest estimates from PHE and Cambridge University modellers.
The latest estimates also indicate that the vaccination programme, which kicked off last December, has directly averted more than 82,100 hospital admissions among over-65s.
And between 23.6million and 24.4million actual infections are thought to have been prevented, the PHE weekly vaccine surveillance report claimed.
But experts have accused the modellers to be 'away with the fairies' for making the claim on infections, saying it appeared mathematically impossible.
Praising the updated estimates today, Mr Javid said the figures show that the vaccines are 'continuing to keep all of us safe'.
He said: 'We're quickly closing in on 100,000 lives being saved in England alone.
'With 82,100 hospitalisations prevented in over-65s and almost 24million infections prevented across England, the vaccines are continuing to keep all of us safe.'
Data also showed the number of pregnant women getting a vaccine has risen by a fifth in recent weeks, following a concerted effort by health officials to reassure expectant mothers.
Mr Javid said: 'It's also hugely encouraging to see over 62,000 pregnant women taking up the offer and ensuring they and their babies are protected from this dangerous disease.
'The vaccines are free and available at hundreds of locations around the UK — please get your jabs to secure this protection for yourself and your loved ones and help us reclaim our lost freedoms.'
Separate PHE statistics today revealed that Covid outbreaks grew in almost half of England's 149 local authorities. The Isle of Wight saw the biggest jump in cases (by 157.5 per cent, to 412.5), followed by Herefordshire (by 109.8 per cent, to 288.2) and Shropshire (by 49.1 per cent, to 315.3)
Public Health England's weekly surveillance report showed infection rates, the number of positive tests for every 100,000 people, was highest among twenty-somethings. But the figure dropped by 11 per cent to 610.3 for the seven-day spell ending August 15. Case rates also fell among adults in their thirties (by 2.9 per cent, to 388.5) and 10-19 year olds (by 1.3 per cent, to 460.7)
There were nearly 44,000 new daily symptomatic cases of the virus in the UK on average by August 14, King's College London estimates, which was down about 5 per cent on the previous week
Covid cases 'fell last week in adults in their 20s and 30s as well as 10-19 year olds but rose in every other age group'
Covid cases among teenagers and young adults fell in England last week despite the country's outbreak ticking upwards slightly, official data revealed today.
Public Health England's weekly surveillance report showed infection rates, the number of positive tests for every 100,000 people, was highest among twenty-somethings. But the figure dropped by 11 per cent to 610.3 for the seven-day spell ending August 15.
Case rates also fell on the week before among adults in their thirties (by 2.9 per cent, to 388.5) and 10-19 year olds (by 1.3 per cent, to 460.7).
Figures rose in every other age group, with the biggest jump seen among adults in their seventies and eighties — the age groups most vulnerable to the virus.
Separate PHE statistics today revealed that Covid outbreaks grew in almost half of England's 149 local authorities.
The Isle of Wight saw the biggest jump in cases (by 157.5 per cent, to 412.5), followed by Herefordshire (by 109.8 per cent, to 288.2) and Shropshire (by 49.1 per cent, to 315.3).
Meanwhile, data showed rates fell the quickest in Middlesbrough, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Stockton-on-Tees and Sheffield.
It comes after one of No10's scientific advisers today admitted Britain's roll-out may still be expanded to all over-12s.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises ministers, is 'carefully and continuously' looking at data from countries which already offer jabs to youngsters, such as the US and Israel.
Just two months ago, the JCVI insisted there was no evidence to say the benefits of vaccinating children outweighed the risks, given that youngsters face such a low risk of dying or falling seriously ill.
But the expert panel has already U-turned to say that all 16 and 17 year olds should get jabbed.
JCVI member Professor Adam Finn said it is 'hard to predict' whether the group will also recommend it to 12-15 year olds. He admitted the decision was a 'tricky one'.
The major safety concern centres on a heart condition called myocarditis, which is a known complication with Pfizer's vaccine.
The side effect, a type of heart inflammation that appears to strike after the second dose, is more common in teenage boys and affects up to one in 20,000 youngsters given the jab. However, most cases are mild, health chiefs insist.
With Pfizer's vaccine currently being the only one British children are eligible to get, experts have raised concerns about the risks.
UK officials have also yet to make firm plans for children to get top-ups. They want to wait for more safety data about myocarditis before pressing ahead.
But health chiefs have hinted that it is more likely than not all over-12s will be offered a coronavirus vaccine in the coming months.
It comes as the UK's medicines watchdog approved the Moderna jab for over-12s this week, after approving Pfizer for use in the same group in June. But officials have yet to formally recommend it for use in the current roll-out.
Asked if the vaccination programme in the UK might soon include 12 to 15-year-olds, Professor Finn told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Hard to predict the answer on that. We're very focused on what's happening elsewhere.
Meanwhile, data today laid bare how people have started to delete the NHS Covid app following the 'pingdemic' chaos. The number of people 'pinged' was down nearly a fifth by the same date — even though cases had risen in the same seven-day spell and that Test and Trace was given more contacts to chase. In the week to August 11, there were 753,791 people isolating in England. Broken down 255,474 were isolating after being 'pinged' by the NHS app, 307,809 were contacted by NHS Test and Trace and 190,508 were the result of a positive test
The study found that people who catch the Indian variant are just as likely to develop symptoms and spread Covid as the unvaccinated. But those who are doubled jabbed are still significantly less likely to catch it in the first place. The chart above shows how Pfizer's (in red) reduces the risk by about 80 per cent - shown as an odds ratio of 0.2 - and AstraZeneca's cuts the risk by more than 65 per cent, shown as an odds ratio of around 0.4
Israel now requires everyone over the age of THREE to show proof of Covid vaccination or a negative test before being let into restaurants and other indoor spaces - with country now 'at war' with Delta variant
Covid restrictions have been extended to three-year-olds in Israel, with the country now 'at war' with the Delta variant.
From today, everyone over the age of three in the country must show evidence of being vaccinated or a negative test before entering restaurants, cafes, gyms and other indoor spaces.
The country — praised for its world-leading vaccination drive, which has seen two-thirds of adults get double-jabbed — is in the midst of a third wave that shows no signs of slowing.
Health chiefs have warned the nation faces another draconian lockdown unless the situation improves.
The situation will leave Britain, the US and other countries relying on vaccines to thwart the virus nervous.
Daily coronavirus infections reached a six-month high of 8,752 on Monday, before falling slightly on Tuesday. Deaths are also rising, with 120 people dying in the last week — similar to levels seen in September, when Israel was in lockdown.
Cases started to spiral at the end of July, when health chiefs announced all over-60s would be offered a booster dose five months after getting their second.
Israel only uses Pfizer's jab and insists immunity has already began to fade, echoing concerns raised by the drug company itself.
It dishes out jabs three weeks apart, just like the US — which will offer top-ups to all adults. Britain separates dose by around eight weeks but has yet to confirm that any booster jabs will be needed.
Experts told MailOnline the UK and America could be heading down a similar path due to waning immunity from the vaccines.
'We are concerned about the safety signal, the myocarditis signal.
'And we are recognising increasingly that actually children, even adolescents, really very seldom get seriously ill with Covid, so that it makes it a very marginal decision that they will benefit by being immunised.
'So we are obviously looking at that very carefully and continuously, but hard to predict really which way that's going to go.'
He said vaccinating children to protect more vulnerable groups, such as their grandparents, is 'a tricky one'.
Professor Finn, who is also an expert in paediatrics at the University of Bristol, said: 'To immunise a child for the benefit of other family members who themselves can be protected by being immunised, you know, that begins to become slightly tricky to decide.
'I think we're all much more comfortable immunising people where they actually themselves benefit from the immunisation and that that's clear cut.'
Health chiefs have already hinted 12 to 15-year-olds could be offered the jab in the future.
Professor Van-Tam, England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer said at a news conference earlier this month that 'it is more likely rather than less likely that that list will broaden over time as data becomes available' as the JCVI continues to review emerging evidence.
As it stands, children aged 12 to 15 are only eligible if they have a severe neurodisability, Down's syndrome, underlying conditions resulting in immunosuppression, profound or multiple learning disabilities, severe learning disabilities, or those who are on the learning disability register.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved the Pfizer jabs for over-12s in June and on Tuesday said the Moderna vaccine is also 'safe and effective' in the new age groups.
Several countries around the world are already vaccinating over-12s — including the US, Israel, France, Spain and Germany — making the UK the outlier for picking the over-16s age group.
Studies found the jabs to be safe and effective for over-12s, leading Pfizer and Modern to trial their jabs in under-11s.
And University of Oxford scientists are testing the AstraZeneca jab on children as young as six.
But some have pushed back on younger groups being jabbed, because they tend to have no or mild symptoms.
Fewer than 30 under-18s have died of Covid in the UK since the pandemic began — which scientists say is the equivalent of around one in 500,000 who get infected.
But scientists say immunising children will slow the spread of the virus, reduce numbers having to take time off school to isolate and build up immunity across the population.
But UK health chiefs are being cautious due to reports of rare heart inflammation conditions.
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