UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson COVID-19 Press Conference Transcript April 20

Boris Johnson: (00:02)
… and on first jabs, we’ve now vaccinated 33 million people, including 60% of the 45 to 49 year olds. We know that this vaccination program is making a big difference. We know that it’s helping to… from a very big scale, but we don’t yet know the full extent of the protection that we’re building up. The exact strength of our defenses. As we look at what’s happening in other countries with cases now at record numbers around the world, we cannot delude ourselves that COVID has gone away.

I see nothing in the data now that makes me think we are going to have to deviate in any way from the roadmap of cautious, but irreversible, that we have set out. The majority of scientific opinion in this country is still firmly of the view that there will be another wave of COVID at some stage this year and so we must, as far as possible, learn to live with this disease, as we live with other diseases. We’ll be bolstering our defenses with booster jabs this autumn and we’ll be continuing with testing and today I want to announce what we hope will be a further line of medical defense.

The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to pioneer dexamethazone, which has saved a million lives globally and today we’re creating a new antivirals task force to search for the most promising new medicines and support their development through clinical trials, with the aim of making them safely and rapidly available as early as the autumn. This means for example, that if you test positive, there might be a tablet you could take it home to stop the virus in its tracks and significantly reduce the chance of infection turning into more severe disease or if you’re living with someone who has tested positive, there might be a pill you could take for a few days to stop you getting the disease yourself. By focusing on these antivirals, these new antivirals, we hope to lengthen the UKs lead in medicines and in life sciences and to give ever greater confidence to the people of this country that we continue on our path towards freedom.

We’ve taken a big step again this month, reopening significant parts of our country and from many people this last week has brought the first glimmerings of a return to normality. Having a pint, having a haircut, making that trip to the shops. Every day science is helping us to get back towards normality and I believe that antiviral treatments can play an important part. If we keep going, follow the rules, remember hands, face, space, fresh air, then we can keep each other safe and see through our roadmap to reclaim our lives in full. Thank you very much. I’m now going to hand over to Nikki.

Dr. Nikki Kanani: (03:30)
Thank you. My name is Dr. Nikki Kanani. I’m a GP and medical director for primary care in the NHS in England. Since the last time I came to one of these briefings, I’ve been working with colleagues across the NHS to roll out the biggest vaccination program in the NHS history. I’ve been vaccinating at local vaccination services, alongside many of you, offering people second doses, vaccinating people in care homes, but also making sure that my patients can get the care that they need from the NHS when they need it.

It was on the 8th of February when I was last on a page a little bit like this, that I was able to say that we were on track to meet our targets. Since then the program continues to go from strength to strength, with the NHS meeting our first two deadlines on vaccinating the most at risk people. The public response has been incredible and I thank you if you’ve come forward for your first dose and please continue to come forward when you’re asked to, to have your second dose as well.

Yesterday the UK celebrated hitting the latest milestone of 10 million people being fully protected from the virus. To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of the entire population of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham and Bristol combined, having complete protection against COVID-19. We’re making great strides, but this hasn’t happened by accident. The success is down to the hard work of our staff, incredible planning and delivery. I want to iterate my thanks to all of these staff and volunteers, everyone involved in delivering our vaccination program and I want you also to make sure that you look after our staff at this really challenging time. I heard today that a group of people were protesting outside a mobile vaccination bus in Nottingham. I want to say now that we will not stand for it. It is of vital importance that you allow our colleagues to do the job that they need to do, that you allow them to save lives by vaccinating people and as prime minister says, you allow our teams to get us back to the lives that we love and that we miss so much.

I also said at this press conference two months ago that it wasn’t too late to change your mind if you haven’t yet come forward. That was true then and it’s true now. Our offer is evergreen. If you’ve decided that you would like your vaccination and you’re eligible, we have a vaccination for you. If you’ve had your first dose and you have your second dose booked in, please also be sure to get it. I had my second dose so at the end of March and I can assure anyone watching or listening that it’s safe, so please go ahead and take up that opportunity.

One area that I know that has rightly been a concern has been uptake among people from ethnic minority backgrounds and that feels really personal to me, both as a GP and as a woman of color in this country and that’s why two months ago, on behalf of the NHS, I set out our action plan to boost uptake across people from ethnic minority backgrounds. I’m pleased to say we’ve made really significant progress. Since we set out our plan in February, uptake from all ethnic minority backgrounds has tripled, outpacing the national average across all ethnicities. Take up among people from a Pakistani background is more than four times higher than it was in February and a five fold increase in people taking up the vaccine from a Bangladeshi background.

The progress is a direct result of a combination of NHS teams who know and understand their communities, community and faith leaders who’ve worked really closely with us, practical considerations about Ramadan and other local nuances and really strong vocal backing from high profile people such as Bake Off’s Nadiya Hussain, comedian Lenny Henry and TV star Adil Ray. I want to thank everyone involved in this effort. You’ve saved lives, but we’re not done. Our job is not done. We will keep offering first doses as supply allows and in line with JCV advice on those who are most at risk. I echo the PM’s reminder that we all need to keep following the national guidance to reduce transmission, hospital admissions and deaths and we too in the NHS will keep our side of the bargain looking after you, whether you have COVID or non-COVID concerns.

We want to make sure that nobody is left behind, so I want to urge everyone eligible to join the millions already vaccinated to protect yourselves and others. If you’re invited to get a vaccine, please come forward. If you’re asked or have the symptoms to have a test, please come forward. If you have other health concerns, please come forward. Thank you.

Thanks very much, Nikki. Let’s go to questions from the public first. Annette from Leicester. Oh, sorry Nikki. You’re going to do the slides first. Sorry, go to the slides first. Forgive me.

We’ll just take you through a couple of slides before we go to questions. This is a slide that shows the number of people in hospital with COVID 19 in the UK. You can see since our first peak on the 12th of April, so just over a year later, this is on Sunday, the 18th of April, 1973 people were in hospital with COVID 19. If you move to the next slide please, which I haven’t had the joy of saying yet, the number of people who have received a vaccination for COVID-19 in the UK and you can see what PM and I have just described, with 33 million individuals, actually just over that now, have received a first dose and of these over…

… [inaudible 00:09:00] that now have received a first dose, and of these over 10 million people have also received a second dose, thank you.

Great thanks very much, Nikki, and thanks for, for those insights. Let’s go to [Annette 00:09:12] from Leicester.

Annette: (09:14)
Are there any plans for the daily COVID statistics to include numbers of new admissions and deaths involving people who have received a COVID vaccination? If not, why not?

That is an excellent question Annette. The answer I’m afraid is simply that I don’t know whether we are yet able to give you those data, or indeed what that statistic would say if we were able to give it to you Annette. That’s not because we want to conceal anything from people. We simply don’t know that data, and I suspect the numbers is very small, if indeed there are any, but Nikki, if you’d like to comment on that?

Absolutely. Thank you prime minister. It’s a really good question Annette. I think what’s really key is that every week we publish data that looks at both COVID statistics, vaccination statistics, and obviously any safety alerts as well. So although they aren’t triangulated every week, those statistics are produced, and we’re able to look at those and understand what that means and how that influences the vaccine program.

Thanks very much, Annette. And clearly unfortunately people will continue to die of other causes, irrespective of whether or not they’ve had a vaccination. But I think your point is a good one.

Let’s go to [Marilyn 00:10:38] from London. And Marilyn’s question is, “Once international travel resumes on May the 17th, how frequently will the red listed travel countries be reviewed? And what are the requirements for country on the red list to be moved to the amber or green travel lists?”

Thanks Marilyn. Well the answer is that we keep the red list under constant review. All countries we keep under constant review, judge the state of the pandemic in those countries. And this work is done, actually not by the government itself, it’s done by the Joint Biosecurity Center it’s done by the JBC. They look at the issue, and they will make their determination based on what they think we need to do. And clearly if they think there’s a variant of concern, for instance, if they think that the disease is taking off rapidly in that country, or they have any other reason for concern, then it will move onto the red list and downwards, if it’s going in a different direction. So it’s the JBC that does it, and we keep it under constant review.

Questions from the media please, Vicki Young of the BBC.

Vicki Young: (11:59)
Prime minister followup to that last question from Marilyn, really about the red list. In the past few weeks, tens of thousands of people have traveled between India and the United Kingdom. Why did it take so long to put India on the red list? There are some who wonder why it took you so long to cancel your planned trip there.

Vicki Young: (12:18)
And a second question, if I could about climate change, the government, you’ve announced some very ambitious targets today about cutting emissions, but there are some who will point to things such as a coal mine in Cumbria, the scrapping of the Green Homes Deal, and wonder whether you really do have the confidence to take the decisions that are really difficult, and maybe unpopular decisions that will be needed to meet those targets?

Oh, thanks very much, Vicki. The decision on India again, was taken by the JBC really in response to the state of the pandemic there. And you’ll recall that at the moment what we’re seeing in India is the result of a variant under investigation, it hasn’t yet been deemed a variant of concern. I think that was why there’s been the delay.

And what I think what the JBC has decided is on a purely precautionary basis it’s necessary now to put India on the red list. But I want to stress that even before that, we have measures in place for everybody coming from India that are very, very tough indeed. So people coming from India have to quarantine, have to self-isolate. They then, in addition to filling in the passenger locator forms and all the things that you know about, they then have to take a test on day two and on day eight.

And it’s because of those tests that we’ve actually been able to isolate the cases of the so-called Indian variant, the B 1.617, I think it is, that are currently under investigation. I think that there are slightly over 100 such cases that we’ve identified here in the UK, and clearly we’re following up all of them, following up their contacts, doing the surge testing that you would expect. I want to stress that it is still a variant under investigation, not yet a variant of concern; we will look very carefully at whether it shows any sign of being able to escape the vaccines, or escape the effect of the vaccines, but that’s where we are at the moment. And by putting it on the red list, of course, by putting India on the red list, what happens now is that anybody coming from India has to go immediately into an even more stringent regime of hotel quarantine.

And on your question about climate change, and how we can make these very considerable advances that we want to make, I would just remind you that since 1990, the UK has actually cut emissions, or cut emissions on 1990 levels by something like 44%, 42%-44%. And yet the economy has grown by 73%. So I don’t see any contradiction, Vicki, between growth and jobs and building back better, and tackling climate change. We can do both together. In fact, I think we must do both together. I want the UK to be a global leader in clean green technology, and in high-wage, high-skill green jobs. That’s what we’re aiming to do. We think we can do both together. And the evidence of the technological progress that we’ve made in the last 20 years I think shows that we can.

Can we go to Emily Morgan of ITV?

Emily Morgan: (15:58)
Thank you prime minister. You’ve set a target to roll out possibly two antiviral treatments as early as autumn. Do you have two treatments specifically in mind that you know will be available? And if not, isn’t that a hugely ambitious target? And if I may on the football, do you really think that you can prevent a European super league from happening if the clubs are determined to push ahead?

Emily, the antivirals, we’ve been discussing, obviously we have, there are various shots we already have in our locker like dexamethazone, I think remdesivir is also used in some cases. And then there are various other treatments with names that they’re sounding a bit like Aztec divinities, Tocilizumab, and various others that we’re certainly looking at. But I think probably on this one, I’m going to pass the ball to Nikki, and then I’ll come back and say something about football. But Nikki why don’t you say something about-

Thank Emily. So just to recap, we really welcome the introduction of the Antiviral Task Force and to make sure we really focus on prevention and treatment in the community, so managing a rise in infections or new variants. The NHS has been working internationally actually to identify effective treatments for COVID. And a huge thanks to the over 1 million people in the UK who’ve participated in a research trial so far.

We know that over 22,000 lives have already been saved in the UK from the use of dexamethazone. So your question about what have we got in the pipeline, there are a number of treatments at the moment that are being tested and refined. And what we found is that it’s taken about six days to go from a positive research finding, to put that particular treatment into practice. So we’re starting to look at budesonide and other treatments as well.

And this really gives us a chance to focus and ramp up pace on the use of antivirals, particularly in-

… Ramp up pace on the use of antivirals, particularly in the community and at home.

Thanks, Nikki. And, I mean, on the football what I would say is our first step is clearly to back the football authorities in this country, the FA football association, the Premier League and the steps that they’re taking to contract this initiative. But be there no doubt that we don’t support it and support the creation of this European Super League. I think it’s not in the interests of fans. It’s not in the interests of football. How can it be right to have a situation in which you create a kind of cartel that stops clubs competing against each other, playing against each other properly with all the hope and excitement that gives to fans up and down the country. I think it offends against the bracing basic principles of competition. And, if necessary, in order to protect that principle of competition, we will seek, as I said to those bodies earlier on, we will seek a legislative solution. But we hope that they can find a way forward themselves. Can we go to Andy Bell of Channel 5?

Andy Bell: (19:18)
Thank you. You’ve spoken of learning to live as much as possible with the virus, Prime Minister. Michael Gabe is in Israel today. We assume to be looking at their version of a COVID passport. Can we assume that, in the months ahead, one part of learning to live with the virus as much as possible is that there will be some sort of domestic COVID passport, some sort of COVID authentication? And in terms of the football, please, do you regard this as a special case for government intervening in this sort of area? And what would you say to the billionaire owners of these clubs who presumably, if they spoke out would say, “Look, this is our business and government should keep out of it.”

First of all, thanks, Andy. First of all, on COVID status certification, as we call it, don’t forget that, under the current system, under the step two rules, you don’t need any kind of a certificate and you certainly won’t need anything on the May the 17th openings, assuming that, as I say, we can get there, which I’m very hopeful that we will. You won’t need anything then. What we are looking at, and I think any responsible government would look at, is what ways we can use evidence of people’s COVID status, just to open up some of those things that are really tough and did prove very tough to open last year. And I wouldn’t want to focus exclusively, Andy, the on vaccines. There’s also your immunity status, and testing is also a very useful. But you’ll be hearing more about that in due course. And, when we find it, if indeed we find it useful, I think it may very well be useful, but we will be setting it out in due course. And people certainly don’t need to think about it before May the 17th.

And, on your point about football, what would I say to the billionaire club owners? Well, I just this, that these clubs, the Association of Football, football was invented and codified in this country. It is one of the great glories of this country’s cultural heritage. These clubs, these names originate from famous towns and cities in our country. And I don’t think it right that they should be somehow dislocated from their hometowns, home cities, taken and turned into international brands and commodities and just circulate the planet propelled by the billions of banks without any reference to fans and those who have loved them all their lives. And I don’t think it right, as I said in my earlier answer to Emily, that we should forget the basic principle of competition, which is so important and gives so much excitement and enjoyed the sport. So, that’s what I would say to them. Let’s go to Harry Cole, The Sun. Harry.

Harry Cole: (22:26)
Yeah. Thank you, Prime Minister. What are the odds of our readers being able to enjoy a European holiday this summer? And is it still too soon to book? And when can they book? And, on the football, at the leadership meeting you had today with community leaders and football leaders, you promised a legislative bomb if they proceeded with this plan. Can you give us some insight into what that bomb might include? And is it true you’re considering a windfall tax on clubs, visa restrictions, taking away policing of matches. What is off the table? Is anything off the table?

Thanks very much, Harry. On your very good question about travel, I’d love to be able to give you and your readers a clear rundown of the countries that we think may be either red, amber, or green at this stage. We won’t be able to do that yet. As we’ve said, the Global Travel Task Force has reported, but what they’ve said is that we’re really going to need to wait until early May before we can set out which countries are on the list. And you can see some of the troubles and some of the problems that some of our friends are currently having. So, I think it’d be just premature to speculate about that. I’m sorry about that. But we will be saying more as soon as we possibly can, before May the 17th.

And on the legislative approach that we could take, I don’t want to say very much more about that except to say that remains certainly something we will bring to the forefront if we have to. As you know, Tracy Crouch is doing a fan based review of the whole governance of football, how it works, trying to improve things for fans and trying to address some of the underlying issues that we’re facing. But I think what we want to do, first of all, is back the FA, back the Premier League, and hope that we can thwart this proposal before it goes over very much further. As I say, I don’t think it’s in the interest of football or of the fans. Let’s go to Jessica Elgot of The Guardian.

Jessica Elgot: (24:46)
Thank you, Prime Minister. I wonder if you might give us an update on the Janssen vaccine in the U.K., especially given the news out of the U.S. and the EMA today that they have concerns about it. Would that be a big blow to our vaccine programs, especially vaccinating the younger cohort of people, if we encountered any difficulties? I know that we’re waiting for its approval. And secondly, on football, I’d like to know really what is your own personal view of the German model of majority fan ownership of football clubs? Is that something you’re instinctively in favor of or against? And is that something this country could seriously consider having here?

Okay. Thanks. On Janssen, I think I’m going to ask Nikki to say something as well. We’re confident though in the security of our supply, and that we’ll be able to get done what we’ve said we’re going to do by the end of July, Jessica. So, that’s the key thing I’d like to get over about the vaccine supply. But, Nikki. But absolutely.

Yes, sir. Absolutely. So, it’s not a vaccine that we’re using at the moment in this country, as you know. And, as with any vaccine, we’d wait for MHRA approval. And we always take guidance from MHRA and JCVI to plan our vaccine deployment into sites accurately and safely. Right now the priority is to get your vaccine if you’re offered it, because we have the supply to vaccinate you if you’re eligible.

And, sorry. It’s on fan ownership and the German approach to this, Jessica. I think that’s really a matter for Tracy Crouch and her review. I really wouldn’t want to preempt what she’s going to say, but I know she’s very interested in those sorts of models and what that may or may not involve. Paul Waugh, Huffington Post.

Paul Waugh: (26:33)
Prime Minister, you’ve set out a new legally binding target to cut emissions by 78% by 2035, but also to include aviation in emissions for the first time. Does this mean that the third runway at Heathrow is now much less likely? Or, if it does go ahead, will there need to be cuts at regional airports? And, if I may, on Brinson Lobbying, it has sparked a lot of interest in whether the Nolan principles of public life have any teeth or relevance anymore. Do you agree with the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which, in its review of your links with Jennifer Arcuri-

Paul Waugh: (27:03)
Office for police conduct, which in it’s review of your links with Jennifer Arcuri concluded, and I quote, “It would have been wise for Mr. Johnson to have declared this as a conflict of interest and a failure to do so could have constituted a breach of the Nolan Principles. And those principles include acting with honesty and integrity.” Do you believe you acted with honesty and integrity in your relationship with Ms. Arcuri, who claims you conducted your affair in your marital home?

Well, thank you very much, Paul. And on your first point about the plans to build on the runway at Heathrow, that’s a matter for the company concerned. It’s a private matter. They’ve got to get it through to fund it and to finance it themselves. My own views about that particular matter are well-known, but that doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to aviation. It doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that this country has a great future in pioneering low carbon aviation. Aviation and a green future are not mutually exclusive and they can be done. And that’s why one of the things that I set out in the 10 Point Plan for the Green Industrial Revolution was to get to a jet zero world.

And the government is working with partners across industry to try to achieve that. There are all sorts of promising looking approaches, all sorts of ways in which we could reduce carbon emissions from planes. We’ve got to do it. In the end, humanity is going to need to fly and it’s going to have to fly in a clean green way. I’m a technological optimist, as I said in my earlier answer, I think to, to Vicky Young of the BBC and I think we can do it. And my answer to your second question is, yes. Okay, everybody, thank you very much.

Mark Austin: (29:07)
There we are. The Prime Minister wrapping up that news conference there. He said the vaccine program was making a big difference but as we look at what is going on in other countries, it was clear that this disease had not gone away. Nothing at the moment, he said, to think that the country must deviate from the roadmap. He announced an antiviral task force to help produce more antiviral treatments, he said, by later this year.

On why it took so long to put India on the red list, he said, scientific advisors made the decision. The Indian variant was under investigation, not a variant of concern.

On the football super league and trying to stop it, he said that the government will back the Premier League and the other football authorities in whatever they were doing to try stop it. He said it’s not in the interest of fans. It’s not in the interest of football, and if necessary, we will seek a legislative solution, though he didn’t say what that would be.

He was not prepared to speculate on overseas holidays. And at the end there, he was asked about whether in his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri, he had behaved appropriately. He said simply, “Yes.” Beth Rigby, our political editor is with us. Beth, let’s just start on the football, the the threat, I suppose you’d call it, of legislative action, some sort of legislative solution, but no detail.

Beth Rigby: (30:46)
No, that was right, Mark. I mean, he was asked by a number of journalists about what does he actually plan to do about it? Something I raised at the beginning when we were talking about the press conference, because of course, it’s very easy to vocalize opposition, but what do you do to actually change it? What is this legislative bomb that he potentially is going to detonate if necessary? And he wouldn’t be drawn on that? He just basically said, “Well, I hope we don’t get to that point. I hope I can thwart it, this plan, before we have to go in hard, in terms of legislation.” But just in terms of his words on the European super league, being no doubt about how he feels about it. He said, “We don’t support it. It’s not in the interests of fans or football. How can it be right to create a kind of cartel?” And he went on to say, “If necessary to protect the principle of competition, we will seek a legislative solution.”

Beth Rigby: (31:44)
And then he went on to talk about how football is one of the great glories of this country. He didn’t think it’s right that it becomes dislocated from home towns and cities to circulate the planet, propelled by billions, without any reference to fans, which have loved them all their lives. So very strong words and evocative words from the Prime Minister. As for the legislation he can actually pass to try and stop this happening, it definitely felt there, that the legislation route is the threat with which he hopes will make this plan go away, or at least be severely altered. That’s obviously what he hopes to do, to put on the pressure, along with the football associations and the fans in order to try and get these clubs to step back from this plan.

Yeah and the whole purpose of the news conference was COVID, I guess. What struck you about what he said about the pandemic?

Beth Rigby: (32:47)
Well, I mean, there was lots on COVID in that. Lots of questions around vaccines, questions around international travel. I think the big picture in terms of progress of the roadmap was when the Prime Minister said at the very top, he saw nothing in the data, “Which makes me think we’re going to have to deviate in any way from the roadmap.”

Beth Rigby: (33:08)
But he also went on to remind us that the majority of scientific opinion is still firmly of the view that we’ll have another wave of COVID this year. Now you’ll remember that this is a new reversible path out of lockdown, which is why he wants to go so cautiously. So a few alarm bells there in terms of talking about a third wave or another wave. Now, lots of ministers I’ve spoken to will quietly say, behind the scenes, they do expect a wave, another wave of COVID. But the question is, is it small enough to be managed as we go about freely in our lives? And does the vaccination program help make that happen?

Beth Rigby: (33:46)
And on that matter, interesting stats that over 33 million people now have had a vaccination. Over 10 million people have now had two doses. And between the 45 to the 49 year olds who were offered the vaccine, I think in the past couple of weeks, 60% of them have taken the vaccine. He also announced, in terms of trying to get us to live more easily with COVID into the autumn, this antiviral taskforce. And that will be designed to find other treatments that you can take at home. He talked about potentially a tablet you could take at home. That if someone in your home has the virus or you get the virus, what can you take early on to try and minimize and limit the effects and speed up recovery? So that was one other thing.

Beth Rigby: (34:33)
And then just finally, in terms of holidays, Harry Cole there from The Sun, asking the Prime Minister, “Can we go on some holiday this year?” He said, “I can’t tell you what is going to be on the red, amber and green traffic light systems, which countries for where.” He said we’d have to wait until early May to find that out.

Beth Rigby: (34:55)
And just finally, as you said on Jennifer Arcuri, he was asked about that and whether he believed he’d acted with integrity around revelations of their relationship. And he simply said at the end of that press conference, “Yes.”

Okay, Beth, thank you very much, indeed. Now let’s get some reaction to the proposed …

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson COVID-19 Press Conference Transcript April 20

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