Health blogs from the UK Health Security Agency
Understanding the transmission and future risk scenarios of COVID-19
Surveillance of COVID-19 Disease surveillance is one of UKHSA’s most essential functions. We ensure that we gather the right information at the right time – and present this information...
Powering our nation’s health security with world leading science
Today marks the start of British Science Week, a celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths, and an opportunity to highlight health protection science and UKHSA’s...
COVID-19: Moving towards recovery for schools, colleges and universities
The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it has made necessary have had a significant impact on the education, health and social development of our children and young people. Throughout...
COVID-19: Simple and effective ways to protect yourself and others
The Government has published its Living with COVID-19 plan, which announced the end of legal restrictions (such as the legal requirement to self-isolate if you have COVID-19) and the...
A career in science – past, present and future
I was told aged 13 that I should consider becoming a biology teacher by my school careers advisor. Biology was one of my favourite lessons and this planted the seed that I could go on to...
How well do vaccines protect against Omicron? What the data shows
*Data presented in this blog is accurate as of Thursday, February 10, but is subject to change over time. For the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, read the UKHSA’s Vaccine...
Changing the COVID-19 Case Definition
At the beginning of the pandemic, little was known about the novel coronavirus we now know as SARS-CoV-2 – or as its commonly called COVID-19. Two of the things we did not know were how...
What do I need to know about the MMR vaccine?
More than one in ten eligible children under the age of five in England haven’t had the MMR vaccine or are only partially vaccinated. This leaves these children unprotected and increases...
Reporting the vital statistics – how data management has been central to the handling of the pandemic
Over the last two years the COVID-19 Dashboard has played a central role in managing the pandemic. By reporting near real-time data on key indicators of transmission and the impacts of...
5 things to know about recent changes to testing
The huge increase in COVID-19 cases across the country in recent weeks has shown that the pandemic is not over and highlighted that we must keep working together to slow the spread of the...
Using lateral flow tests to reduce the self-isolation period
With COVID-19 cases reaching record levels across the UK, there is an increasing strain on key services, including the NHS. It is important that we continually review the evidence to...
Reflecting on a year responding to COVID-19
At this time of year many of us stop to reflect. The past two years have been hard on us all, the world as we know it changed forever. Like the vast majority of people, physical and social...