Covid-19 inquiry latest: New report due as healthcare workers warn NHS is not prepared for another pandemic

The inquiry’s fourth report is set to make a series of recommendations about the development of the Covid vaccines and its rollout in the UK.

It will also examine the treatment of Covid-19 through both existing and new medications.

One of the issues to be highlighted in the report will include unequal uptake of the vaccine and the government’s response.

Baroness Heather Hallett, who chairs the inquiry, is set to address the groups representing people who were affected by Covid vaccine-related deaths or harm on Thursday.

Lawyers representing the groups have called for improvements to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, which sees people vaccinated in the UK awarded £120,000 if they have been harmed as a result.

Sarah Moore, who is representing 48 claimants, said: “The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, in its current form, fails to provide timely or adequate support to those who have been seriously injured or bereaved due to vaccine side effects.”

Solicitor Terry Wilcox from Hudgell Solicitors, which represents a number of vaccine injured groups, said people who have been harmed or died “deserve acknowledgment of the impact on their lives, which for many has been life-changing illness and loss of loved ones, and changes made to ensure they are properly supported, and that lessons are learned for the future”.

The Independent community largely agreed with the Covid inquiry findings that Boris Johnson’s government was chaotic and poorly prepared, though many also stressed the broader context of conflicting scientific advice, years of underfunding, and systemic failings that compounded the crisis:

In early 2020, scientists across the world were desperately searching for a new drug or treatment for Covid as the virus continued to spread.

The government deployed a Vaccine Task Force in the UK to find the most promising vaccines and pre-order them for speedy deployment once approved by regulators.

In November that year, Pfizer/BioNTech announced that its Covid-19 vaccine was both safe and effective, with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine also announced to be effective just days later.

Grandmother Margaret Keenan, then 90, became the first person in the world to be given a Covid-19 jab outside of a clinical trial when she received the Pfizer vaccine in Coventry.

The NHS began rapidly administering vaccines, prioritising the most vulnerable in society.

Thousands of vaccination sites were set up across the UK including in football stadiums, shopping malls and cathedrals. Clinics operated 24 hours a day to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

More than 184 million Covid vaccinations have been administered in England, according to the NHS.

The UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry is releasing its fourth report at midday, which will examine vaccines and drugs during the crisis.

It will make a series of recommendations about the development of Covid vaccines and its rollout. It will also examine the treatment of Covid through existing and new medications.

The report is expected to discuss the unequal uptake of the vaccine and the government’s response.