Four years after Covid, videoconferencing is an inevitable part of life for manyREAD MORE: Amazon orders staff back to the office as it ends hybrid work By Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline Published: 00:00 EDT, 19 September 2024 | Updated: 00:00 EDT, 19 September 2024
One of the world’s most active volcanoes has erupted again at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The eruption occurred in a remote wilderness area, which is 6 miles (10km) from the nearest road.
One of the world’s most active volcanoes has erupted again at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The eruption occurred in a remote wilderness area, which is 6 miles (10km) from the nearest road.
Newsflash: The Bank of England has left UK interest rates on hold.At its latest meeting, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to leave interest rates at 5%, resisting any temptation to cut rates for the second meeting running.The vote means no fresh relief for borrowers (even as defaults on direct debits rise), a day after the US central bank cut its rates for the first time in four years.The decision comes a day after UK inflation stuck at 2.2% in August, above the Bank’s 2% target, with a rise in both core inflation and services inflation.More to follow…Time to wrap up….The Bank of England has kept interest rates unchanged at 5% as it put its efforts to ease the pressure on household budgets on hold.The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) voted by a majority of eight to one against launching a back-to-back reduction in borrowing costs amid concerns over lingering inflationary pressures.The Bank last month cut interest rates for the first time since the Covid pandemic was declared four years ago, after a sharp fall in inflation from a peak of more than 11% in late 2022 – the highest level since the early 1980s.Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, said inflationary pressures had continued to ease, but cautioned against expectations for rapid interest rate cuts, saying:
“The economy has been evolving broadly as we expected. If that continues, we should be able to reduce rates gradually over time. But it’s vital that inflation stays low, so we need to be careful not to cut too fast or by too much.”
Bailey later told broadcasters that he was “optimistic” that inflation pressures would ease enough to allow further cuts to interest rates.He said:
We’re now on a gradual path down. That’s the good news.
I think interest rates are going to come down. I’m optimistic on that front, but we do need to see some more evidence.
And of course, we’ll be looking at this at every meeting.
City economists predicted the Bank would cut interest rates in November, and make perhaps four quarter-point cuts to rates in 2025.Here’s the full story:By leaving UK interest rates on hold today, the Bank of England has fallen behind several fellow major central banks.At 5%, UK interest rates are just 25 basis points (a quarter of one percentage point) below their highest level reached in the tightening cycle which ran over the last few years.In contrast, the US Federal Reserve has just cut its rates by 50 basis points.The European Central Bank has made two quarter-point cuts this year, meaning its deposit rate is now 50 basis points off its recent peak.The Swiss National Bank has also made two 25bp cuts in 2024.Adrien Pichoud, chief economist at Bank Syz, says that difference has strengthened the pound:
Importantly, as the Fed embarks on a policy of monetary easing and the ECB also cuts its key rates, the spread between sterling and other major currencies supports sterling, which reached its highest level in two years against the dollar and the euro after today’s announcement.
The strength of the currency will help to bring down inflation by containing pressure on imported goods and services. Sterling’s strength is also a headwind for exporters, which will ultimately weigh on the outlook for economic growth.
The minutes of the Bank of England’s interest-rate-setting meeting this month cites three possible scenarios that could hit the economy.The first – that global shocks unwind – could allow interest rates to be cut faster, whie the third – that wage and prices rises are stickier than expected – could mean higher borrowing costs for longer.The Bank says:
In the first case, the unwinding of the global shocks that drove up inflation and the resulting fall in headline inflation should continue to feed through to weaker pay and price-setting dynamics. The persistence of inflationary pressures would therefore dissipate with a less restrictive stance of monetary policy than in other cases.
In the second case, a period of economic slack, in which GDP falls below potential and the labour market eases further, may be required in order for pay and price-setting dynamics to normalise fully. Domestic inflationary persistence would then be expected to fade away, owing to the opening up of slack from a more restrictive stance of monetary policy relative to the first case.
In the third case, the economy may be subject to structural shifts such as changes in wage and price-setting following the major supply shocks experienced over recent years. The degree of restrictiveness of monetary policy may be less than embodied in the Committee’s latest assessment, meaning that monetary policy would have to remain tighter for longer.
Japanese bank MUFG tells clients the Bank of England might squeeze in two interest rate cuts later this year:
BoE leaves policy rate on hold following 25bp cut in August.
The 8-1 vote was not a surprise with Swati Dhingra the lone dissenter and Alan Taylor voting for the first time with the majority.
We see a cut in November and an increased chance of another in December.
The pound remains the top G10 currency performer year-to-date but we see scope for that outperformance to start to fade.
Looking ahead, Deutsche Bank predicts the Bank of England will make one more interest rate cut by the end of this year, lowering Bank Rate from 5% to 4.75%.Thereafter, they predict four quarter-point rate cuts through 2025, followed by a further three more rate cuts in 2026, taking Bank Rate down to 3%.The big news today is the more unified message from the Bank of England’s policymakers that “a slow and steady removal of policy restraint” is needed.So explains Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank.In a research note titled The Importance of Being Idle, Raja points to three key points:
First, the decision to hold Bank Rate was not unanimous. While we expected a more divided MPC, today’s decision highlighted a less divided Committee, with the vote tally coming in at 8-1.
Second, the MPC struck a more cautious tone than we expected. But the door remains wide open for a Q4 rate cut. Indeed, for the majority of the MPC, “a gradual approach to removing policy restraint would be warranted”.
And third, the Bank left its quantitative tightening (QT) envelope fixed at £100bn. What does this signal? By maintaining a steady QT envelope, the MPC has implicitly signalled that the Bank puts more weight on the total stock of gilt reduction as opposed to the Bank’s active sales footprint. Total sales for the next 12 months now will total £13bn, lowering the impact on cash borrowing for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the next fiscal year (i.e. 2025/26).
Gabriella Dickens, G7 economist at AXA Investment Managers, predicts the Bank of England will cut rates at its next meeting, in November, to 4.75%.And looking further ahead, Dickens predicts the Bank will make one quarterly rate cut per quarter in 2025, which would bring Bank Rate down to 3.75% by the end of next year.She told clients:
We think a further 25 basis point (bp) cut in November is in keeping with the messaging that a “gradual pace” of tightening seems appropriate.
Further ahead, we think the risks are skewed to the downside. Yes, services Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and wage growth are higher in the UK than in its peers, but we look for a material slowdown over the next 12 months.
And tighter-than-expected fiscal policy following the October 30th Budget looks very possible given recent signals from the government.
For now, we maintain a quarterly pace of tightening this year and throughout 2025, leaving Bank Rate at 4.75% end-2024 and 3.75% end-2025. But the risks are to the downside, primarily associated with expected fiscal tightening.
Stocks on Wall Street have hit a new record high, as investors welcome last night’s whopping cut in US interest rates.The S&P 500 share index has jumped by 1.5%, gaining up to 88 points to 5705.96 points.Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, says the half-point cut in US interest rates last night has cheered markets:
The move was seen as a bold but necessary step to ease economic concerns without sending panic signals reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis. Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasised that the cuts are not part of a long-term strategy but rather a proactive measure aimed at stabilising growth, now that inflation appears to be on the path of returning to its target.
The Dot Plot projection also boosted investor confidence, showing a possible 50 basis points of cuts this year and 100 next year, with the terminal rate expected to hit 3.0% by 2026.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has told broadcasters he is “optimistic” that inflation pressures would ease enough to allow further cuts to interest rates.Speaking to the BBC after UK interest rates were left on hold at 5% today, Bailey says the Bank’s job is to make sure inflation is “sustainably” at the 2% target [it was 2.2% in August].He says:
We’ve made a lot of progress, inflation’s come down a long way, and of course we were able to cut rates in August.
Bailey adds that there are still some inflationary pressures, pointing out that price rises in the services sector are still running at an “elevated” rate (services inflation jumped to 5.6% in August, from 5.2%)But, Bailey says, interest rates are on a ‘gradual path’ downwards:
We’re now on a gradual path down. That’s the good news.
I think interest rates are going to come down. I’m optimistic on that front, but we do need to see some more evidence.
And of course, we’ll be looking at this at every meeting.
Although the Bank was cautious today, it could speed up its interest rate cuts next year if it grows more confident that inflationary pressures are easing.ING developed markets economist, James Smith, predict that this will allow the Bank to lower rates to 3.25% by next summer, from 5% today. That would be the lowest since November 2022.Smith says:
“The Bank’s hawks worry that corporate price and wage-setting behaviour has permanently shifted in a way that’s going to make it perpetually harder to get inflation down on a sustained basis. We’re not convinced that’s the consensus view on the committee right now – August’s decision to cut rates certainly suggests it isn’t. But so long as wage growth and services inflation remain sticky, then the committee as a whole seems happy to tread carefully. We’re less convinced that the UK’s easing cycle will deviate that much from the Fed or others. As the Bank readily concedes, the recent stickiness in service sector inflation is mostly down to volatile categories that hold little relevance for monetary policy decisions. Strip that out, and the picture is slowly looking better.
“Meanwhile, the jobs data, though admittedly of dubious quality right now, points to an ongoing cooldown too. The number of payrolled employees appears to be falling now and that will inevitably feed through to wage growth. Companies are consistently lowering their estimates of expected and realised price/wage growth, according to a monthly BoE survey.
We therefore think that Bank of England rate cuts will accelerate after November. Beyond then, we think the Bank will grow more confident in the persistence of inflation and there will be sufficient consensus on the committee to switch to back-to-back rate cuts. Like investors, we expect a cut in November and December, with further cuts in 2025 taking us to 3.25% by the end of next summer.”
At 5%, UK interest rates now ranks as the highest among major economies, my colleague Phillip Inman points out.But the economy is far from overheating, he writes:
Economic growth remains stagnant and employment is well down from its pre-pandemic level. Businesses are not investing and consumer confidence, which rose earlier in the year, has stalled.
According to these measures, interest rates should be on the way down and at a much faster pace.
The MPC, or at least most of its nine members, says this analysis ignores important dynamics in the post-pandemic economy that are inflationary. It believes the jobs market remains stuck in a groove of ever higher wages that have yet to be choked off by high interest rates.
While the employment rate is down, this has not translated into unemployment going up by much. Instead, workers have bailed out of the labour market altogether. Some have joined the ranks of the long-term unemployed. These are working-age people who, in a previous era, were able to retrain and find a new job. Others have been signed off sick. Others have taken early retirement.
Without a thriving jobs market and a confident business sector keen to invest, the Bank judges growth will remain low and the economy unable to expand by much next year and the year after without being inflationary.
The odds of a cut to UK interest rates in November, at the Bank of England’s next meeting, have now risen to 80% according to the money markets.That’s up from 60% shortly after the Bank’s announcement at noon today.But, before today, a cut by November was fully priced in.City firm Capital Economics predicts the Bank of England will get rates back down to 3% in the current easing cycle.Their chief UK economist Paul Dales says:
We expect only one more 25 basis point cut this year, although the pace of cuts may quicken next year with rates eventually falling to 3.00% rather than to the 3.25-3.50% priced into markets.
As well as leaving interest rates on hold today, the Bank of England also decided to maintain the size of its bond-selling programme, called quantitative tightening (QT).Under QT, the Bank is selling UK government debt bought after the financial crisis and the pandemic, to reduce the size of its balance sheet to more normal levels.It has decided to maintain the pace of QT at £100bn over the next 12 months, despite speculation that it might either speed up, or slow down, the process.Most of the £100bn – £87bn – will be covered by maturing bonds, so there will only be 13bn of ‘active sales’ over the next year.Thomas Pugh, economist at audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK, explains:
“The MPC decided to keep its quantitative tightening envelope at £100bn over the next year. That is important for the Chancellor and the Autumn Budget as it implies just £13bn of active sales against an OBR forecast of £48bn.
The difference will shave some £2bn from her already wafer-thin headroom against the current fiscal target and makes it even more likely that she will opt to change the definition of debt used in the fiscal rule. Using Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) instead of the current metric that excludes the BOE (PSNDex), could also free up around £16bn based on the March OBR numbers.
Neil Mehta, portfolio manager at RBC BlueBay asset management, argues that the Bank of England simply had less justification to cut interest rates than the US Federal Reserve:
Unlike the Fed, who can point towards a sudden lurch higher in the unemployment rate, the BoE doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on regarding reducing interest rates swiftly.
Services inflation is an unhealthy 5.6%, while the labour market remains tight and dogged by post-covid supply side issues. Moreover, recent above-inflation pay deals awarded to the public sector workers, coupled with a rise in energy bills will keep headline inflation well above 2% for the remainder of the year. In that context, the BoE will struggle to communicate, with any force, meaningful rate cuts in the coming months.
Moreover, it might appear that the economy is coping just fine with elevated interest rates – the economy is growing at a modest pace and housing market and construction activity is picking up. The budget in October remains the wildcard for now in terms of policy trajectory over the short to medium term.
Suren Thiru, economics director at Chartered Accountants’ group ICAEW, fears the Bank of England will be “painfully cautious” with rate cuts in coming months, having left interest rates on hold today.
“Keeping interest rates unchanged will be a notable setback to households contending with burdensome mortgage bills and businesses grappling with a variety of other cost pressures.
“While this decision doesn’t mean the end of the rate-cutting cycle, it does suggest that the pace of policy loosening is likely to be painfully cautious, with rate setters still concerned that underlying inflation remains too high.
“Although only one rate-setter voted to loosen policy, the relatively dovish tone of the minutes suggest that the Monetary Policy Committee is shifting towards cutting interest rates when it next meets in November.
“Continuing to keep interest rates elevated risks hampering the government’s ambition of significantly higher annual GDP growth by keeping borrowing costs too high for too long, limiting investment and growth opportunities for businesses.”
James Sproule, UK chief economist at Handelsbanken says yesterday’s inflation report was “undoubtedly key” to today’s decision.
While the August inflation rate overall held steady at 2.3%, services inflation rose from 5.7% to 5.9%, largely driven by earnings. Longer term the outlook is that the overall 2% inflation target can be sustainably maintained so long as goods inflation is around -1%, while services inflation sits at around 3%.
For the moment goods inflation is negative at -0.9%, although longer term as and when supply chains are rebalanced away from China, maintaining that negative price trend may prove a challenge. As to services inflation and earnings, there is an ongoing concern that above inflation (and well above productivity growth) pay rises being agreed by the new Government for a range of public sector workers could spill over into pay expectations in the private sector. Such an outcome would undoubtedly prompt the MPC to slow, or stop, its path of interest rate reductions.
Janet Mui, head of market analysis at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, says the Bank. has a “trickier” inflation challenge than its counterparts in the US and the eurozone:
After the Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.5% yesterday and the ECB cut rates a second time this month, the contrast is stark as the BoE holds. Arguably the UK sees a trickier inflation environment, as services inflation and wage growth remain above 5% YoY. Near-term economic momentum has improved in the UK, whereas in the US it has slowed.
Broadly speaking, as the factors driving inflation higher have been normalising, inflation is still expected to slow toward 2%. So, it is fair to expect that the BoE will be able to keep cutting rates over the course of the next 12-18 months, but at a gradual and modest pace. The next cut is largely expected to be November, needless to say, the BoE will remain data dependent.”
Alpesh Paleja, interim deputy chief economist at the CBI, says the Bank is walking a ‘fine line’:
“The Monetary Policy Committee was widely expected to hold fire this month, after the first rate cut in four years in August. There remain very varied views among the MPC around the degree of inflation persistence, and over what horizon this will dissipate.
Monetary policy will be walking a fine line for a little while yet: between balancing upside risks to inflation, but not being too tight, so as to choke off activity. Developments in fiscal policy in October’s Budget will also be a key consideration for growth prospects.
We still anticipate another rate cut in November, and a few more next year, in line with the MPC moving at a slow but steady pace. On their own, lower interest rates will be a welcome respite to households and businesses.”
The hospitality industry are disappointed that interest rates have been held at 5%.Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, says:
“It’s disappointing that interest rates will remain unchanged, after another month of stabilised inflation.
This positive sign should have emboldened the Bank to take decisive action that would inject some confidence into businesses and, crucially for hospitality, begin to relieve the pressure of Covid loan repayments.
These repayments remain a significant burden for businesses, particularly with interest rates remaining high.
Without a rate cut today, the need for the Government to avoid a business rates cliff edge in April becomes more urgent. Venues face their bills quadrupling when relief ends, which is why we’re calling for action and for the Government to introduce a lower, permanent and universal multiplier for hospitality.”
The Bank of England’s reluctance to cut interest rates today is a blow to borrowers, such as mortgage-holders and credit card customers. Savers, though, will benefit.Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at online investment platform Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, says keeping interest rates on pause at 5% may be unsettling for households, particularly with a painful budget looming.Haine writes:
“Many households, who have seen their finances battered by high living and borrowing costs over the past few years, are likely to have pinned their hopes on another rate cut, particularly those still contending with high mortgage and debt repayments. While the 25 basis-point cut on August 1 will have slightly eased the strain for borrowers – another cut would have cemented that sense of relief.
“The worst of the cost-of-living crisis may now be behind us, but the rapid price rises of the past few years are now baked in, so making ends meet remains a struggle for some. While food inflation is continuing to ease, rents, airfares and transport costs rose in August – indicating that the inflation pain of the past few years is not over just yet.
“With high living and borrowing costs over a sustained period leaving consumer finances under strain, some households have been forced to delay major purchases, such as a first or bigger home. Others have relied on credit to make ends meet, putting them at the mercy of the high interest charges on that debt.
But those with money in savings accounts will benefit, for the moment anyway, says Mark Hicks, head of active savings at Hargreaves Lansdown:
“The decision to hold interest rates steady at 5% is good news for savers. Banks and building societies had started to price in the possibility of a cut over the past few days, and if this had materialised, we would have seen others swiftly follow suit.
However, this good news is unlikely to last. Further cuts later this year are likely to hit the easy access market the most, because those rates remain the most sensitive to the base rate. Fixed rates are still the best option for anyone who doesn’t need the money close at hand. They offer similar rates to the easy access market, and mean savers can lock in these rates for the entire fixed period. As the downward trend in global interest rates is well under way, it will now become a question of how far rates will fall – and at the moment, the end isn’t in sight anytime soon.”
The odds of a cut to UK interest rates in November have fallen, following the cautious comments from BoE governor Andrew Bailey.The money markets now indicates that a November rate cut is only a 60% chance.Before noon, it was fully priced in, so that’s quite a change.Why? Two factors, I think.Firstly, the fact the MPC split 8-1 to leave interests rates on hold, while economists had expected a 7-2 split.Second, Bailey’s comments about being careful “not to cut too fast or by too much”.
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In a coordinated and deadly attack, pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and injuring thousands more, according to officials.
Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have pointed to Israel as the orchestrator of what appears to be a highly sophisticated remote strike.
A U.S. official revealed that Israel had briefed the United States following the operation, which involved small amounts of explosives being secretly planted inside the pagers and then detonated.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, provided insight into the complex nature of the attack, which has left the region on edge and raised concerns of further escalation.
The first wave of explosions erupted across Beirut and other parts of Lebanon at approximately 15:45 local time (13:45 BST) on Tuesday. Witnesses described seeing smoke emerging from people’s pockets, followed by small explosions that sounded like a mix of fireworks and gunshots.
According to the New York Times, which cited U.S. officials, pagers used by Hezbollah members received messages that appeared to come from the group’s leadership but instead triggered the devices to detonate. The explosions continued for about an hour after the initial blasts, according to Reuters.
As the blasts subsided, hospitals across Lebanon began receiving a flood of casualties, with witnesses describing chaotic scenes in emergency rooms.
What Do We Know About the Devices?
The pagers that detonated during Tuesday’s blasts were of a new brand previously unused by Hezbollah, according to an operative speaking to the AP news agency. A Lebanese security official informed Reuters that approximately 5,000 pagers had been brought into Lebanon about five months ago.
Labels found on fragments of the exploded pagers identified them as the Rugged Pager AR-924, manufactured by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. However, the company has denied any involvement in the explosions. When the BBC visited Gold Apollo on Wednesday, local police were at the scene, inspecting documents and questioning employees.
Lithium Isn’t the Culprit
Tom Exelby, an ex-military security expert who now heads up cyber security at Red Helix, speaking of the speculation around lithium-ion batteries being the culprit, says: “Triggering thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries requires temperatures to run above 150 degrees centigrade.”
Whether or not it’s possible to trigger this remotely remains to be seen, so it’s unlikely to cause a similar impact to what happened yesterday, says Exelby.
From what we know so far, it appears that pagers packed with explosives were used, rather than a cyber attack as we tend to think of them. “However, the suspected use of mobile cellular networks for triggering the devices shows that it is possible to use publicly available digital infrastructure to carry out nefarious acts.”
Lithium-ion batteries found in small consumer devices cannot release their chemical potential energy fast enough to cause the type of concussive explosion that’s being widely reported in pagers at the moment, Exelby explained.
He says that due to the rise in cybercrime and our reliance on connected devices, industry mandates for device manufacturers (like the PSTI Act) are in place to better secure connected devices before we, as consumers and employers, can buy them.
Compromised Supply Chain
More recently, technology has become more widely accessible for manufacturers to test the security resilience of devices against threats. However, given what the world saw yesterday, with thousands of pagers being used as bombs, it seems less likely that attempts to interfere with battery management systems would take place due to their lack of ability to cause major disruption.
It would appear that thousands of pagers packed with explosives were used in the attack. To achieve this, the supply chain of these devices was probably compromised.
To target a specific organization, it is likely that the devices were ordered in bulk to arrive at a known set of addresses. In a situation where the supply chain is highly compromised, a smartphone could be used to deliver a similar style of attack. However, this isn’t likely, given the ability to target individuals accurately through publicly available retail channels.
It is unlikely that this style of attack will become more common due to its sophisticated nature and its ability to accurately target people. However, this could be a wake-up call to tech manufacturers to confirm the security of their supply chains, Exelby ends.
Ugandan scientists have launched a Shs9.8 billion study to develop a vaccine for the deadly Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).
The two-year study, which is already underway, is being conducted by researchers from the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and other scientists from Uganda and abroad.
Dr Sheila Nina Balinda, the principal investigator for the study, said they are banking on capacity built during government-funded Covid-19 vaccine research at UVRI to develop a vaccine for CCHF. Currently, there is no vaccine or approved treatment for the viral disease.
“This study will develop a multivalent vaccine for CCHF. The vaccine will target both humans and animals by incorporating multiple antigenic epitopes (a portion of a foreign protein that is capable of stimulating an immune response) from different CCHF virus genotypes circulating in Uganda,” she said during the official launch of the study in Entebbe yesterday.
She said the study, among others, requires the use of non-human primates (monkeys) to test the vaccine. Vaccines are first tested on mice and non-human primates for safety and efficacy before being given to people.
“There were issues previously relating to how much it costs to get the humanised mice. For the non-human primates, it is extremely on high-end. For example, we need only 12 non-human primates to meet the statistical power for our preliminary data. However, just for one monkey it is about $35,000. So in total, we need $450,000 just to do this aspect. So research is extremely expensive and considerations have to be taken if we need to venture and break boundaries,” she said.
According to scientists, non-human primates are similar to people genetically (up to 98 percent) making them uniquely suited to demonstrate how diseases affect the human body. Unlike smaller species, monkeys provide more accurate predictions of how a disease behaves or how a treatment will work in humans, which is why they are the most commonly used animals in medical research.
Media and research reports indicate that the price of monkeys used in vaccine and drug studies increased sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic due to increased research and each is now sold between $20,000 (Shs73.9m) to $50,000 (Shs184.7m).
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government purchased mice to be used in studies to develop a vaccine for the disease. Each humanised mouse cost Shs8 million. This sent the country into an uproar, with many saying the costs were inflated. However, scientists said it was within range.
Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the UVRI director, said they have received £2 million (Shs9.7 billion) from the United Kingdom Innovation.
“We are excited because she (Dr Balinda) is going to use a platform called Chimp Adeno platform which was developed initially for Covid-19 and funded through Science, Technology and Innovation, Office of the President. The Covid vaccine has gone into (being tested in) mice,” he said.
The MRC director, Prof Moffat Nyirenda, said the study offers Ugandan scientists opportunities to showcase their capabilities.
“We used to receive vaccines that have already been developed, and manufactured, by other people outside. We just try them out whether they work or not, but this is different. This is starting from the very precursor of vaccine development,” he said.
As a social media savvy mum, Stacey Solomon delights her 6 million Instagram fans with family life insights, cherishing every moment she shares online. The mum-of-five, 34, has now disclosed that despite being open, she has strict boundaries, especially about posting children’s tantrums. Being a busy mother to Zachary, Leighton, Rex, Rose and Belle, the…
As a social media savvy mum, Stacey Solomon delights her 6 million Instagram fans with family life insights, cherishing every moment she shares online. The mum-of-five, 34, has now disclosed that despite being open, she has strict boundaries, especially about posting children’s tantrums. Being a busy mother to Zachary, Leighton, Rex, Rose and Belle, the…