UK Covid live news: justice secretary refuses to rule out prospect of prisoners and staff being vaccinated en masse

Latest updates: Robert Buckland said prison inmates will not be prioritised over other groups but emphasised need for speed and protecting staff

Keeping windows open and improving ventilation in schools would be a much more effective at reducing coronavirus transmission than asking young children to wear face masks, a government scientific adviser has said.

Professor Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he is “not a fan” of asking young children to wear masks, and there are better strategies for managing the virus.

Primary school children are the lowest risk both to themselves and to society. There is really good data coming out ... that shows that children are half as likely to acquire the virus to a third as likely to acquire the virus.

When it comes to transmitting, they are probably half as likely to transmit it as adults. That risk actually gets smaller as you go into younger age groups.

If I had to invest in a single activity to improve the environment both for the children and the adults, I’d be looking at improving the ventilation, unsealing windows that have been painted shut and kept shut for energy-saving reasons ... improving air exchanges.

That would be a much more effective way to reduce transmission in schools.

Robert Buckland, the justice secretary, has refused to rule out the prospect of prison inmates and staff being vaccinated en masse in the next phase of the rollout of the coronavirus jab.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is due to publish its recommendations on who should get the vaccine once the rollout to the first nine priority groups – including the over-50s – is complete, PA news reports.

What is clear is that the need for speed is everything here. I will be supporting anything that gives us speed and maximises the impact that it has.

Prisons are a closed environment, like care homes. I have got to think about the welfare of staff. I am particularly anxious to make sure that prison staff get the vaccine.

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Coronavirus | The Guardian

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