News Round-Up

• “Boris Johnson will be forced to decide on child Covid vaccinations” – The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is set to provide Boris with options about vaccinating children, forcing him to take a political decision, the Telegraph reports
• “Glasgow to stay in toughest lockdown level as Covid cases rise” – With cases rising in Glasgow and Clyde, the Guardian says that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has decided it would be unwise to move the city down from ‘Tier 3’ to ‘Tier 2’ this weekend
• “U.K. intelligence helping U.S. investigate Wuhan lab leak theory” – British intelligence officials are co-operating with the new American investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2 ordered by Joe Biden, according to the Telegraph
• “COVID-19 lab-leak theory puts Wuhan research in spotlight” – The FT looks in to ‘gain-of-function’ research, the controversial experiments which lie behind the lab leak hypothesis
• “Ex-Herefordshire firefighter took his life after struggling to get doctor’s appointment” – Bryan Jenkins took his own life back in January at the age of 59. He had been “desperate” for a face-to-face appointment with a doctor, his sister said, but “all he got was telephone responses and a pharmacist that changed his medication”
• “Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre cancelled for second year” – According to the BBC, the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre, which usually attracts about 130,000 visitors, has been cancelled for the second year in a row
• “One-parent rule for boy’s cancer treatment cruel” – Nineteen-month old Carson Josephson has leukaemia and needs regular treatment at a children’s’ hospital in Cardiff but, the BBC reports, due to the Welsh Government’s Covid rules, only one parent can go in with him at a time. His father has called the rules “cruel”
• “UK scientist feels vindicated as focus turns to Wuhan lab” – Professor Angus Dalgleish who was shunned for claiming that the coronavirus was manufactured and leaked from the Wuhan lab has welcomed President Biden’s demand for an inquiry, the Times reports
• “The Wuhan lab leak was always a credible theory – so why did scientists dismiss it?” – “In silencing all mention of the theory at first, professors have shown just how political they can be,” says Ross Clark in the Telegraph
• “The manufacturing of fear” – Laura Dodsworth gives Spiked an account of the significant role the media played in making sure that the British “were one of the most frightened populations in the world”
• “Our vaccine rebuttal competition – Honourable mentions, Part 1” – The first instalment of entries to the Conservative Woman’s competition for the best answer to that inevitable question: “Have you had your jab yet?”
• “Cummings – portrait of a weak-minded fanatic” – “Cummings’s presentation of the lockdown argument was no more sophisticated than anyone else’s,” says Daniel Miller at the Conservative Woman. “It depended on systematic evasion and falsified predictions delivered in hysterical language”
• “Sketch Notes on A Pandemic – Lucy Thorne” – The Sunday Express‘s Lucy Johnston talks to Lucy Thorne, who wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister describing the struggles young people have faced during lockdown
• “£17K Fine, ASBO & Arrest for Lady at Christian Bookshop & Tea Room” – Alex Belfield from the Voice of Reason interviews Chris, the owner of the The Mustard Seed Christian Bookshop & Tea Room in Nottingham, who was arrested and fined by the police over lockdown rules and is now fighting back
• “Thoughts on ‘A State of Fear’” – Rev Phill Sacre shares his thoughts on Laura Dodsworth’s bestseller and recommends that everyone should read it
• “No-one likes a grass, Cummings” – Watch comedian Andrew Lawrence’s take on the evidence Dominic Cummings gave to MPs this week
• “Pfizer’s Covid jab is first in EU to be approved for 12-15 year olds” – The European Medicines Agency has now approved the Pfizer jab for use by 12-15 year-olds, Euronews says, after deciding that the benefits outweigh the risks
• “It doesn’t seem like Covid’s here at all” – Thousands of Chelsea and Manchester City fans are delighted to be in Porto for the football, but some locals are concerned about the Covid risk, Sky News reports
• “Israeli breakthrough Covid treatment gets approval for advanced trial” – The Jerusalem Post hails the development of a new drug called EXO-CD24 which has shown a positive effect in treating COVID-19 and is heading for double blind placebo trials
• “These Florida concert tickets are $18 if you’re vaccinated, $1,000 if you’re not” – ABC reports on a new instance of vaccine bribery, this time at a concert in Tampa where there is a massive discount on offer to those who have been jabbed
• “Fauci failed to alert White House about gain-of-function research ban being lifted, claimed the risk outweighed potential pandemic” – The Post Millennial with more detail on why Dr Fauci is up to his neck in it
• “The Twilight Zone, Hogan’s Heroes, and the Emotional Support Mask” – “It’s time to ditch the emotional support mask and those who advocate its use,” write Lockdown Sceptics‘ contributors Donald Siegel and Robert M. Sauer for the AIER
• “Remarks by Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the US on the Origin Tracing of COVID-19” – “Smear campaign and blame shifting are making a comeback,” the Chinese embassy spokesperson said, but “out of a sense of responsibility towards the health of mankind, we support a comprehensive study of all early cases of COVID-19 found worldwide and a thorough investigation into some secretive bases and biological laboratories all over the world”
• “Overrun with kids attempting suicide’: Children’s Colorado declares state of emergency” – Beckers’ Hospital Review reports that a state of emergency has been declared at Children Hospital, Colorado. The CEO Jena Hausman explaining that the inpatient units are “overrun with kids attempting suicide and suffering from other forms of major mental health illness”
• “Qantas Dangles Free Trips for People Who’ve Been Vaccinated” – Seeking to spark some renewed interest in air travel, Quantas is considering dishing out free loyalty points to frequent fliers who have been vaccinated, Bloomberg reports
• “These are immoral restrictions derived from a refusal to consider any aspect of this crisis other than Covid” – The former Supreme Court Justice tells Julia Hartley-Brewer that there may be a “moral justification to break the law” if the lockdown does not end in June