We have reached the point where national lockdown restrictions are needed immediately as UKG has done. We must use the time it provides to change fundamentals of this infection through - Tests, Treatments & crucially Vaccinations, support for people, businesses & the @NHSuk .

New strains of Covid-19 are a very serious threat, and we are seeing how these can quickly outpace existing restrictions. We have to drive down transmission, vaccinate to protect and prevent new strains emerging which may escape treatments and vaccines.

Must not lift restrictions until sure transmission very low, r is well <0.5,NHS can cope with demand,HCWs have recovered from pressure they are under. If we lift too early the virus will return & the vicious cycle returns. Let us learn from 2020, act early & do not lift too soon

In the UK and in many other countries, hospitals and health care workers are now at or beyond the brink, struggling to cope with Covid and non-Covid care demands.

Health care workers are working with unselfish and inspiring dedication, but the demand is overwhelming the capacity of what can be delivered by these amazing professionals.

HCWs must have all our support, meaning we all respect the restrictions, helping to reduce transmission of this awful virus, ultimately reducing hospitalisations and preventable deaths.

Vaccine rollout, even with two vaccines now available UK, will take time to reach even the initial priority groups.We can & will speed up the process & reach more people in these groups by extending the gap between 1st & 2nd doses & offering 1st dose to maximum number of people.

To maximise the impact of this, and to ensure we can develop a programme which is already thinking ahead to next winter, large-scale trials of timings of the second vaccine dose should begin when this critical initial roll out to all vulnerable people is completed.

At present we know vaccines are safe & effective but there are vital unanswered questions. We do not have the evidence for how long immunity provided by vaccines lasts, or how we get maximum long lasting protection or if they will protect vs emergence new variants & other issues.

The UK & other international leaders must deliver on commitments to ensuring global access & supply of these first vaccines. It is in no country’s interest to focus only on national populations. Without global access we will see new variants emerge which may escape vaccination

Global access is critical public health, a scientific and moral imperative. Global solidarity & individual interests are both best served through immediate global access to all tools needed to end pandemic-Diagnostics, Surveillance, Treatments, Vaccines, Oxygen, PPE @WHO & ACT-A

Truly no one is safe until we are all safe.

This is a global, endemic infection, which will require ongoing global surveillance & response for years to come. Leave one country behind and we are all exposed to risk, and to life taking longer & longer to returning to anything like normal.

Statements @wellcometrust since 10th January 2020. https://wellcome.org/press-release/wellcome-statements-novel-coronavirus-covid-19