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London to start trialling first 24-hour Covid vaccination centres in January

Nadhim Zahawi says over-70s being invited for jabs and hints teachers could be prioritised in next phase
The first 24-hour vaccination centres will be piloted in London before the end of January, the UK’s vaccines minister has said.
Nadhim Zahawi said that by the beginning of February the scheme would be under way in hospitals in the capital and also pledged that 50 large vaccination centres would be open. He said that at present about 140 people a minute were being vaccinated against Covid-19.
Zahawi, who later said he had a “big worry” about vaccination rates among BAME communities, said that from Monday “in some areas where they’ve done the majority of over-80s, letters are going out to the over-70s and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable”.
But he argued that for the most vulnerable cohort of over-80s, 24-hour centres were not the most important component of the government’s programme.
He told Sky News: “If you just want to chase volume, chase speed, and not accuracy, 24 hours works really well. But if you want to chase both accuracy, protecting the most vulnerable and of course speed, then you want to do what we’re doing, which is primary care networks, hospitals, large vaccination centres, and of course pharmacies last week.”
Due to limited supply, the vaccine “needs to get into the arms of the most vulnerable” first, Zahawi said.
Describing the vaccination programme as a “race against death”, Zahawi said supply “remains challenging” and is the limiting factor in the rollout of coronavirus jabs.
“We now have built a deployment infrastructure that can deploy as much vaccine as it comes through. And so it’s the vaccine supply – which remains lumpy, it remains challenging, you may have read over the weekend probably some of the challenges around Pfizer and of course Oxford/AstraZeneca – but I’m confident we can meet our target mid-Feb,
He later told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that on Monday the proportion of care home residents vaccinated so far would go past 50%.
Asked if people should be allowed to work in care homes without having been vaccinated, he said: “We’re not the sort of country that forces people to take vaccines, we want to do it by persuasion.”
He said he disagreed with the owner of a plumbing company who said he would not employ anyone who had not had a vaccine, calling it a “discriminatory” approach.
He added that he was concerned about whether minority groups would be vaccinated at high enough rates.
As well as being disproportionately likely to die of the virus, polls have found that black, Asian and minority ethnic people are less likely to want the vaccine. Fifty seven per cent of BAME respondents to a Royal Society for Public Health survey in December said they were likely to accept a vaccine, against 79% of white respondents.
“My big worry is if 85% of the adult population gets vaccinated, if the 15% skews heavily to the BAME community the virus will very quickly infect that community,” Zahawi told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “People have some hesitancy … we are there to answer their questions.”
Zahawi’s update on progress with the government’s coronavirus vaccination programme comes as letters offering appointments to about 4.6 million people over 70 and 1 million extremely vulnerable people are sent out this week.
He repeated the government’s target, made on Sunday by the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, of offering all adults a first dose by September.He said that once the most vulnerable cohorts had been vaccinated in phase one, in phase two his “very strong instinct” was to prioritise other groups likely to come into contact with the virus more often than others.
“Those who their work, through their profession, may come into contact with the virus – police men and women, shop workers, teachers, incredibly important because we want to make sure schools reopen fully … should be prioritised,” he said.
Meanwhile, the national medical director for the NHS in England, Prof Stephen Powis, said he was confident that everyone who had had their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine would get their second.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’ve been planning this, this change, this extension in the time of the second dose
He said the UK had the guaranteed supplies of both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines to fulfil that pledge.
The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, told Today that Wales’s supply of the Pfizer vaccine had to last until February and therefore was not being used all at once.
“There will be no point, and certainly it will be logistically very damaging to try to use all of that in the first week and then to have all our vaccinators standing around with nothing to do for another month,” said Drakeford, whose stance has been heavily criticised for meaning that some vaccinations will be deliberately delayed.
He said: “We will vaccinate all four priority groups by the middle of February, alongside everywhere else in the UK.”
source: Archie Bland
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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