Covid live: UK reports 38,520 cases and a further 181 deaths; Moderna backs booster jabs ahead of FDA hearing

UK cases fall back below 40,000 mark; Moderna says boosters reduce breakthrough' infections

• Calls for UK inquiry as negative PCR tests after positive lateral flow reported
• Bereaved families call for acceleration of UK Covid inquiry
• Britain's initial response to pandemic led to more deaths
• WHO recommends extra jab for immunocompromised people
• French study of 22m people finds vaccines cut severe Covid risk by 90%
• See all our coronavirus coverage

That last block mentioned that Prof Sir Andrew Pollard had written for us. As well as a message for governments, he had a message for individuals too: Individuals cannot solve vaccine inequality. If you're offered a booster, take it

The to boost or not to boost" moral dilemma is not in the purview of individual citizens who ponder whether to roll up their sleeve when offered a booster by a vaccine clinic this week. A dose that is in the vaccine clinic fridge (or freezer) cannot be redirected to someone else in another country, because the regulatory hurdles and shelf-life simply make redistribution of this dose not practical. Redistribution has to happen prior to the release of vaccine doses to the national health system. A protest against vaccination at individual level will be misdirected and risks wasting these precious doses. If you are asked to roll up your sleeve, then you should do so.