Seven days in medicine: 30 Dec 2020 to 5 Jan 2021
BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4974 (Published 07 January 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;372:m4974
Covid-19
GPs get £10 to vaccinate each care home resident
The NHS will give GPs in England an extra £10 (€11; $13.60) for every care home resident they vaccinate against covid-19 by the end of January as the vaccinations programme expands, after the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on 30 December. Altogether, 786 000 people received a covid jab from 8 to 27 December, figures showed. NHS organisations have also been asked to start vaccinating nurses, doctors, and other staff as additional supplies become available.
Antibodies “protect for at least six months”
The presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies confers subsequent immunity in most people for at least six months, concluded a study of 12 364 healthcare workers in Oxford, UK, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Among the 1265 workers with positive antibody tests, only two had subsequent positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests when followed up after 60 days (0.13 per 10 000 days at risk). Both of those workers were asymptomatic, and none of the originally SARS-CoV-2 seropositive workers reported symptomatic infection. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.m4961)
Lateral flow test is approved for home use
The UK’s medicine regulator approved the Innova lateral flow covid-19 test for people to self-administer at home despite warnings that it may give people a false sense of security. Previous data from the Liverpool mass testing pilot programme found …
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