Last year, over 10 million people trusted us to help them with some of the biggest issues in their lives. Learn more about how we help. How your support helps Volunteers are then monitored closely to determine whether people catch the disease and if there are any side effects. Monitoring continues to determine how long immunity lasts. If you’ve found information that looks like it could be legitimate, but you aren’t sure, see if you can find it from other reputable and trusted sources. It is unlikely that only one source has a true story about coronavirus.

Clive Lloyd knighted - BBC New Year’s Honours: West Indies star Clive Lloyd knighted - BBC

The third stage of testing involves tens of thousands of volunteers. Some are randomly selected to receive the vaccine and some receive a placebo. Neither the scientists or volunteers know who gets selected for each. The Government sets the criteria for Pension Credit and further detail from the Department for Work and Pensions can be found here. Scientists identify the specific antigen to the virus that causes the disease, then develop a vaccine to trial. Here's how, with your support, Age UK is supporting older people through the cost of living crisis.Since the start of August 2020 we have handled more than one million phone calls to our dedicated helpline. The BBC retained a free licence provision for the most vulnerable. Free TV licences remain available to anyone aged over 75 who is in receipt of Pension Credit, paid for by the BBC.

TV Licences: An update - Media Centre - BBC Over 75s TV Licences: An update - Media Centre - BBC

No visits have been authorised to anyone who had previously held a free over-75s licence. This policy has been in place since August last year. There have been reports of other countries pausing their rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to certain groups. The MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) in the UK, the European equivalent, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the World Health Organisation (WHO), are all confident of the safety and effectiveness of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and agree that the benefits outweigh any risks. Any vaccine offered to you has been licensed and approved and has gone through all the necessary stages of development to make it safe and effective. As of August 2020 there were 4.2m over-75 households with free licences that, under the new policy, needed to transition to new paid or free licences. After six months, this is good progress for the implementation of a programme of this size. We always knew the transition process would take time and this has been central to our planning.No enforcement action has been taken against anyone who has previously held a free over-75s TV licence.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine latest information | Age UK

We have had to adjust our plans because of Covid-19 - ensuring customers have plenty of time to respond and creating new processes to help them get set-up from home. About 1 in 7 older customers are left to transition either by buying a licence or claiming a free licence paid for by the BBC. We wrote to people twice last year. In August we wrote to all over 75 customers who had previously held a free licence explaining the simple steps they needed to take to apply for a paid or free licence. A reminder letter was sent to a much smaller group in October and November to help remaining customers get set-up. It might be that you're offered both at the same time. This is perfectly safe and could be more convenient for you.

If the person you’re talking to, the social media post you’re reading, or the YouTube video you’re watching doesn’t say where they’ve found the information they’re sharing, it’s worth being sceptical. Anyone aged over 75 and receiving Pension Credit is eligible for a free TV Licence, paid for by the BBC. After vaccination, if the virus gets into our body, our immune system remembers what to do and produces antibodies to fight it. This means the infection doesn’t get a chance to take hold and we are immune to the virus. Vaccination means we can stimulate this immunity without becoming unwell with the disease in the first place. At Age UK, we get all of our information from reputable sources including the NHS, academic experts, scientific publications, pharmaceutical companies, the World Health Organisation, and the organisation that approves the vaccines: the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). We have implemented these transitional arrangements with the greatest care and have worked to make the process as fair and straightforward as possible. We have also been very mindful to operate in a Covid-safe way.

It’s recommended that pregnant women should only receive the vaccine in certain circumstances. Children shouldn't get the vaccine at the moment, either. This is simply because it hasn't yet been tested on these groups. Each vaccine has gone through trials to ensure the risk of serious side effects is very low. However, as with other vaccines – such as the flu vaccine – there are some common side effects. These include: Is the information from a trusted news source that you are familiar with? There are lots of people claiming to be experts speaking about vaccines, but it may be hard to tell whether they are as knowledgeable as they say they are.We know there have been a small number of cases in which there has been a delay or the transition process has not been straightforward. Yes. TheUK regulator and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)(the independent experts that advise Government on all vaccines) have assessed all approved vaccines to be safe and able to offer a high level of protection against becoming severely unwell with coronavirus, including for older people.