‘Absolutely avoidable’: How Britain lost 100,000 lives to coronavirus

Latest updates and essential advice from The Independent [View in browser]( [Alternate text] Daily briefing January 27, 2021 Today’s essential news from the source you trust This morning’s headlines More than 100,000 people in the UK [have now died from Covid-19]( - a heart-wrenching, incomprehensible figure that many experts and scientists believe to be rooted in the failures of a “reckless" government that has overseen one of the largest “avoidable” losses of lives in generations. Few ever envisioned the UK reaching such a grim milestone, yet nearly 12 months on from the beginning of the pandemic - and despite countless opportunities and warnings to take corrective action - the country stands alone with the highest daily death rate in the world. More than a quarter of all UK deaths have been reported in the last month alone, the culmination of the government’s failed tier system, pre-Christmas mixing and the emergence of the new coronavirus variant, critics say. Against this backdrop, the NHS has found itself overwhelmed by a surge of hospitalisations previously unseen throughout the pandemic. Prime minister Boris Johnson has pledged to launch an inquiry into Britain’s handling of the pandemic but insisted on Tuesday evening that “we truly did everything that we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise [the] loss of life and to minimise suffering.” Mr Johnson has appealed for the world to [avoid restrictions to vaccine movements across borders](, as an escalating row between the EU and drugs giant AstraZeneca threatens supplies of the coronavirus jab. The plea came as the company’s chief executive Pascal Soriot confirmed that the UK would have first claim on vaccines produced by the company in Britain and said that glitches in EU supply were the result of Brussels taking three months longer than London to seal a deal. Speaking to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Mr Soriot said the UK’s “one-dose strategy” of delaying booster jabs for 12 weeks after the initial injection was “absolutely the right way to go” with the AstraZeneca product and would allow Britain to vaccinate 28 to 30 million people by March. Brussels has threatened to impose export controls on vaccines produced within the 27-nation bloc after the Anglo-Swedish multinational - which was due to deliver 80 million doses to the EU by the end of March - suddenly said it was cutting supplies by as much as 60 per cent. Joe Biden [called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday]( for the first time since taking office, pressing his fellow president on the arrest of opposition political leader Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s alleged cyberattack last year that compromised the files of multiple US federal agencies and the Russian military’s alleged bounty scheme against US troops in Afghanistan. Mr Biden is eager to set a new tone for the US in its relationship with Russia, its Cold War adversary throughout the second half of the 20th century that has sought to undermine American democracy and re-establish itself on the world stage under Mr Putin these last two decades. Mr Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, routinely gave Mr Putin the benefit of the doubt - despite objections from American intelligence officials - on everything from Russian interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections, the massive 2020 SolarWinds cyber attack, the Afghan bounty scheme and Mr Navalny’s poisoning last summer. . We need your support The Independent employs over 100 journalists around the world to bring you news you can trust. Please consider showing your support with a contribution. [Contribute]( . Top stories [Labour plan to cut jurors to tackle court backlog sparks backlash]( [Priti Patel set to unveil limited quarantine scheme]( [Republicans lose vote to stop Trump impeachment trial]( . 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