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A protester waves a “Black Lives Matter” flag across the street during the demonstration. Representatives from various organizations, including Free the People Roc and HALT (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term), traveled to Elmira correctional facility from across the state to protest the conditions inmates were exposed to during the Covid-19 pandemic. Elmira, NY State Prison has seen a rash of coronavirus cases.

Kit MacAvoy | SOPA pictures | LightRocket via Getty Images

LONDON – The US and UK have already started rolling out their national coronavirus vaccination programs to help contain the spread of the virus. However, health professionals and activists are deeply concerned about the notable lack of prison populations in existing guidelines.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet made decisions about prisoners regarding access to vaccines, although it is believed that prison staff could be included in the second phase of the allocation. The US CDC was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

In the UK, the Joint Vaccination and Immunization Committee has stated that the top priority of the Covid-19 vaccination program should be to prevent death and help maintain health and welfare systems.

The JCVI guidelines do not specifically mention prisons, but it is assumed that the allocation plans will be applied in a manner similar to those in detention.

Both countries have been administering the first vaccinations with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine outside of the trial conditions in the past few days, raising hopes that mass adoption of safe and effective vaccines could end the coronavirus pandemic soon.

With coronavirus cases and related deaths continuing to surge, experts are questioning the ethics of how governments plan to distribute the first vaccines.

“We face a major dilemma here,” said DeAnna Hoskins, president and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA, a national judiciary reform organization trying to cut the US prison population in half.

Speaking at a webinar at Chatham House earlier this month, Hoskins said people incarcerated are “still fewer than people … and that’s how we react when we talk about vaccine access.”

Covid hotspots

Health officials have for years warned of the dangers of epidemics for detainees, arguing that people are unable to maintain a safe physical distance in correctional facilities due to their confinement in small common areas.

The coronavirus pandemic turned America’s prisons and prisons into Covid hotspots. People in prison are almost four times more likely to be infected than people in the general population – and twice as likely to die, according to a study by a criminal justice commission.

If the biggest trouble spots for Covid are prisons, doesn’t it make sense to vaccinate everyone from guards to prisoners?

Ashish Prashar

Judicial Reform Lawyer

“From my point of view and the information we have, we need to consider where prisoners fit in relation to other high-risk groups in terms of their risk. At first glance, prisoners would be at high risk for several reasons.” Seena Fazel, Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University, said in a report published Dec. 12 in The Lancet Medical Journal.

Fazel said prisoners were at high risk of contracting the coronavirus due to the underlying chronic medical conditions, age and the environment. He cited a systematic review of prison settings by his team that identified correctional facilities as high risk for infectious disease transmission with significant challenges in managing outbreaks.

“Our research suggests that people in prison should be among the first groups to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves from infection and prevent the disease from spreading further,” he said.

A view of a new emergency care facility being built to treat COVID-19 infected inmates at San Quentin State Prison on July 8th, 2020 in San Quentin, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The CDC has recommended vaccinating those at an increased risk of infection and mortality for the coronavirus early. However, federal officials say correctional staff should be given priority access to a vaccine, but have not yet spoken out in favor of prisoners being given the same allocation.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said in the report released by The Lancet that he disagreed with plans to vaccinate prison staff only.

“If you are at risk and older or sick, you should just get vaccinated. If you are in a state where you cannot isolate yourself, you should get vaccinated. I see no reason to distinguish them.”

Racial differences

“If the biggest trouble spots for Covid are prisons, doesn’t it make sense to vaccinate everyone from guards to prisoners?” said Ashish Prashar, a judicial reform attorney and senior director of global communications for Publicis.

Speaking at the December 4th webinar at Chatham House, Prashar said, “All the guards, all health workers, all people going to and out of prison are spreading it to society. Wouldn’t you start on?” Hotspots and stop them? And take care of these people first? “

A nurse holds a sign during a protest by the nurses at Rikers Island Prison about the conditions and threat of the coronavirus on May 7, 2020 in New York City.

Giles Clarke | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Mass incarceration in the United States does not affect all communities equally, as African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated in US correctional facilities.

In addition to racial disparities within the U.S. criminal justice system, an updated CDC report earlier this month found that Hispanics and Black Americans, age-adjusted, were nearly three times more likely to die of complications from the coronavirus than white Americans.

“Half a million people haven’t been convicted of a crime, but we’ve taken their liberty away,” said Celia Ouellette, founder and executive director of the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, a nonprofit group that advocates greater security about criminal justice systems and security Imprisonment. Her comments related to those in the US who have not been convicted of a crime but are being held in prisons.

“So there is a moral obligation to treat these people just like the surrounding community – or possibly better because they do not have the same access as the surrounding communities.”

“We need to stop thinking of inmate populations as a category of people and see them as people, as we do in the prisons and jail communities,” Ouellette said at the same webinar at Chatham House.

Shoppers on Regent Street in central London.

Dominic Lipinski – PA Pictures | PA pictures | Getty Images

LONDON – The coronavirus crisis has posed major challenges for many retailers this year. The holiday shopping season was seen as the last chance to generate much-needed sales.

In the UK, as in many other countries, December is usually the best sales month of the year. However, amid one of the worst economic crises in history, there are concerns about how the sector will perform.

However, experts have told CNBC that UK retailers are optimistic for at least three reasons.

Pent-up demand

“Of course, many people will have financial problems as a result of the pandemic, but cash flows will have improved significantly for many other households across the UK as they were forced to spend less on travel, commuting and going out and many will have taken advantage of this.” Opportunity to build her savings and pay off her debts, “said Amisha Chohan, a stock research analyst at investment management firm Quilter Cheviot.

The UK household saving rate, the percentage of money people save and not spend, rose from 9.6% in the first quarter to 29.1% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. This was a record since the data began in 1987.

“There is real optimism that this forced saving will ensure that there is some catching up to do in the weeks and months to come,” said Chohan.

Data from the UK Bureau of Statistics showed that consumers spent around £ 82 billion in November and December 2019. However, due to pent-up demand, the UK Retail Consortium, a trade association, has announced that sales will “exceed” last year’s sales.

New habits

Shopping baskets might look a little different this year.

“People have more time, so they have adopted new habits and that will bring some sales,” Jat Sahi, director of retail advisory at Fujitsu, told CNBC last month.

Fitness equipment, puzzles and board games, for example, were among the most popular items in the UK ahead of the second lockdown in November, data from eBay showed.

“We use our homes differently to make them more comfortable,” Sahi said, suggesting that housewares are also likely to be the first choice for consumers who expect to work from home, at least for the foreseeable future.

Back in the holiday season, music and movies, as well as books and computers, were the top three items bought as gifts, according to the Bank of England. At this time of year, new clothes were also the first choice for many consumers.

“Clothes are facing the biggest problems because people don’t go to Christmas parties,” Jonathan Pritchard, retail analyst at Peel Hunt, told CNBC on the phone.

It’s not just what consumers buy, but how they shop, which is likely to be different this Christmas.

Retailers have seen online sales spike in the aftermath of the pandemic as consumers have been forced to stay indoors. This trend is expected to continue over Christmas as many UK cities still have social restrictions.

According to eMarketer, a data company, UK consumers will spend £ 141.33 billion on online purchases for all of 2020 – a 34.7% jump from last year.

‘We deserve it’

“It’s an emotional thing. We’ve been in lockdown for so long, we deserve it,” Sahi told CNBC about the reasons for some of the purchases this season.

Due to the pandemic, people have been prevented from doing activities, but shopping is still one of the few options they have.

Chohan also noted the willingness of people to get into the Christmas spirit earlier this year.

“There have been few reasons to be cheerful this year, and this lack of joy has encouraged many to get into the festive mood early by putting up their decorations and starting Christmas shopping much earlier than usual,” she said .

A shopper wearing a face mask on Regent Street in London after the second national lockdown ended and England has a strengthened system of coronavirus restrictions.

Victoria Jones – PA Pictures | PA pictures | Getty Images

Calvin McDonald, CEO of Lululemon Athletica, said in an appearance on CNBC Tuesday that he did not expect the company’s sales momentum to slow with the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines

“We’re not seeing a dramatic impact in reducing the momentum in business … there are many growth drivers in the market,” he told Jim Cramer in a Mad Money interview. “I think there are some permanent ones [pandemic] Turning points about the guests. “

Like many other companies, Lululemon saw its digital sales grow exponentially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Lululemon saw 94% growth in this category in its third quarter that ended Nov. 1 as consumers spent more online.

The sportswear retailer’s sales were also driven by consumers who wanted to be active in health and wellness in addition to growing interest in comfort clothing, McDonald said.

“These are all drivers who will keep moving forward after the pandemic,” he said. “Combine that with the momentum we have in the early stages of our growth and innovation. I don’t see any real material impact slowing our business down.”

Lululemon reported sales of more than $ 2.67 billion in its three fiscal quarters from early February to early November. While physical store revenue declined more than 36% year-over-year during this period, revenue direct to consumers more than doubled over this nine-month period.

Between the three quarters, Lululemon’s direct customer business reported revenue of $ 1.56 billion, up from $ 674 million in the same period in 2019, offsetting stationary losses.

In the U.S., the sports market could reach $ 105.1 billion in sales in 2020, based on data from Euromonitor International and Coresight. That number is a 9% decrease from 2019, but companies forecast the market to grow about 6.5% annually through 2023.

Innovation, omni-guest experiences and market expansion form Lululemon’s growth strategy. The company’s goal is to double its men’s business, double its digital sales, and quadruple its international business, McDonald said.

“We’re early in our growth over all of these levers so we’re very excited about the future,” he said.

Lululemon’s shares rose 1.05% on Tuesday to close at $ 356.07. The stock is up 53.70% since the start of the year.