LONDON: Britain closed in Friday on a mid-February target to offer coronavirus vaccinations to 15 million of its most vulnerable people, raising hopes that a grinding lockdown could be eased.
More than 13.5 million people have been given a jab since the world-first immunization program began in early December, with a daily average of 431,232 receiving a vaccine last week.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to offer jabs to all top four priority groups — which includes over-70s, care home residents and some key workers — by the end of this week.
The devolved government in Wales, which controls its own health policy, said it had reached the target of vaccinating the top four categories on Friday.
Figures show nearly 22 percent of people in Wales have at least received a first jab, compared to 20.3 percent in England, 19.2 percent in Scotland and 18.7 percent in Northern Ireland.
First Minister Mark Drakeford hailed hitting the “milestone” but said the nation was not in a competition with the rest of the UK or other countries.
“The race is to get as many people vaccinated as fast as we can so that we can begin to see this dreadful experience in the rearview mirror,” he added.
The UK government in London, which is responsible for sourcing vaccines, is next aiming to have offered jabs to all over-50s by May and the entire adult population by September.
Infection rates have dropped markedly across Britain over recent weeks, as strict lockdown measures have curbed previously spiralling case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths.
The Office for National Statistics’ latest infection survey released Friday showed new cases decreasing in nearly every region of England, where it estimates around one in 80 people had the virus last week.
In early January it was as high as one in 50.
Meanwhile the virus’ reproduction rate, the so-called “R value,” has fallen to between 0.7 and 0.9 — the first time it has dropped below 1 since last July.
That means on average, every 10 people infected will infect between seven and nine others.
The improving situation has prompted calls for the stay-at-home rules to be lifted in early March, despite concern about the spread of virus variants that may be more resistant to vaccines.
A new 10-day hotel quarantine regime for British residents returning from 33 virus variant hotspots begins on Monday, despite criticism is too little, too late.
Johnson has vowed to review all relevant data next week, ahead of setting out the government’s “roadmap” for the months ahead on February 22.
“We will set out a gradual and phased approach toward easing the restrictions in a sustainable way,” his spokesman told reporters, noting it would include plans “for reopening schools and gradually reopening our economy and society.”
But he added Britain remained “in a difficult situation” with its state-run health service still under very significant pressure.
Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, one of the government’s most high-profile scientific advisers, said the country was now “in a better place than I might have anticipated a month ago.”
Johnson will “have some bandwidth” to start reopening primary schools in early March before potentially easing other restrictions the following month, he said.
But Ferguson cautioned against moving too hastily.
“If we relax too quickly without seeing the effect of each stage of relaxation, we may do what we’ve done before and relax too much, see a surge in case numbers, and still need to tighten up measures again,” he told Politico’s “Westminster Insider” podcast.
The government is also facing pressure from some of its own lawmakers.
Mark Harper, who chairs the Covid Recovery Group of Conservative MPs, believes there is no case for lockdown once the most vulnerable have been inoculated.
“After we have protected all those vulnerable people, what arguments remain to keep any legal restrictions in place?” he said on Twitter.
Hopes grow for lockdown easing as UK nears vaccine target
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Hopes grow for lockdown easing as UK nears vaccine target
- More than 13.5 million people have been given the jab since the world-first immunization program began in early December
- The improving situation has prompted calls for the stay-at-home rules to be lifted in early March
Court ruling jeopardizes freedom for pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil
- The panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time
- The law bars Khalil “from attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition,” the panel added
WASHINGTON: A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the US over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.
But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.
“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”
The law bars Khalil “from attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition,” the panel added.
Ruling won’t result in immediate detention
It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.
Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.
In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil said the appeals ruling was “deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve.”
He added: “The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”
Baher Azmy, one of Khalil’s lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts.” He noted the panel’s finding concerned a “hypertechnical jurisdictional matter,” rather than the legality of the Trump administration’s policy.
“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he added, saying Khalil would remain free pending the full resolution of all appeals, which could take months or longer.
The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won’t happen while he can still immediately appeal.
Khalil has multiple options to appeal
Khalil’s lawyers can request the active judges on the 3rd Circuit hear an appeal, or they can go to the US Supreme Court.
An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested on March 8, 2025. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his firstborn.
Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They have also accused Khalil, 30, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.
The government has justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to US foreign policy interests.
In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.
President Donald Trump’s administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.
Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
Dissenting judge says Khalil has right to fight detention
Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level. He does not have a final order of removal, which would permit a challenge in an appellate court, she wrote.
Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.
The majority opinion noted Freeman worried the ruling would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.
“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments, the judges wrote. “To be sure, the immigration judge’s order of removal is not yet final; the Board has not affirmed her ruling and has held the parties’ briefing deadlines in abeyance pending this opinion. But if the Board ultimately affirms, Khalil can get meaningful review.”
The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported. His attorneys have argued that the federal order should take precedence.
That judge has suggested Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.
His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.
