this is this bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: gps are told to get ready to roll out the new covid vaccine from the start of next month. health secretary matt hancock says all nhs staff need to be prepared. i know that they will rise to this challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. no exam results in wales next year — instead a—levels, as—levels, and gcses will be replaced with a system based on teacher assessments. a damning report says leaders of the catholic church in england and wales "turned a blind eye" to sexual predators. face to face for the first time — the covid patient and the trial donor whose plasma helped her to recover.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. gps have been asked to be on standby from the start of next month to offer the new covid vaccination if regulators say it's safe and effective. the government's already ordered enough doses of the vaccine for 20 million people. this as the number of weekly registered deaths involving coronavirus in england and wales has exceeded 1000 for the first time sincejune. 0ur health correspondent anna collinson has more. a possible coronavirus vaccine has been likened to a light at the end of a tunnel. it still needs to be approved and there are questions about how long it will last. the uk may have its first

jab by christmas. this will be a colossal effort to roll this out, which the nhs is leading. i know that they will rise to the challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. early results for the first effective vaccine show it could prevent more than 90% of people from getting covid, with the main roll—out expected to take place early next year the government has announced extra funding for gps, but many are still urging caution... this will take time. it will be required to be given to a far larger number of patients than the flu vaccine. secondly, it has significant transportation issues. it has been well reported this vaccine needs to be transported at a very low temperature, much lower than your fridge freezer at home, —80 degrees. that poses difficulties. new research is warning a third of people may not accept a covid vaccination and the uk must do more to address fears.

a small minority may not be suitable due to health reasons. i'm quite concerned that people like myself, who are allergic to certain medications, won't be able to have the covid—i9 vaccination because i'm just not sure if i'm going to be allergic to it or not, which could lead to a life—threatening situation where i could go into anaphylactic shock. while a vaccine may be in sight, other measures are still important. last week mass testing started in liverpool, the government has announced all nhs staff who come into contact with patients will be tested, even if they don't have symptoms. while students in england may soon be offered tests so they can go home for christmas. but england's test and trace has been repeatedly criticised for not dealing with infected people and their contacts quick enough. this morning its boss defended its record to mps.

i'm afraid as much as i would love testing and tracing on its own to be a silver bullet holding back the tide of covid, unfortunately the evidence in the uk and every other country in europe is that is not the case and the way we have to tackle the disease is through a variety of different interventions, and we are one of the ways, not the only way. official figures show 1597 coronavirus deaths were recorded in the uk in the week ending october 30th. the number of people dying continues to be above normal levels for this time of year. it is unlikely a new vaccine will impact on the uk's winter wave, but it's still a moment for hope. no more so than for the married couple who helped develop the jab. they are the founders of biontech and have been hailed as the brains behind the operation. anna collinson, bbc news. with me is our health correspondent nick triggle. we have been listening to matt

hancock in the house of commons. what stood out for you? it was clear he was setting out what is an exciting development for the vaccine announcement yesterday. he said that the nhs would be ready by the ist of december to start rolling any vaccine out and injecting people. he said we will be injecting hope into millions of arms. he says gps will play a crucial role as they do with the flu vaccination, but hospitals, pharmacists and even at the army will have a role to play. he was also managing expectations, saying it would be logistically complex, the scale is fast and the challenge is avail. 0ne the scale is fast and the challenge is avail. one of the challenges we have heard a bit about any past 2a hours is the issue of this and need to store it in ultracold conditions. this is the pfizer vaccination? yes, it has to be stored at —80 degrees which means a gp surgeries do not have those sort of facilities but what pfizer have said to the bbc

this afternoon is that the vaccine is stable for up to five days between two and 8 degrees so once it has transferred to the point where the patients are going to get it, it can be stored in a normalfridge the patients are going to get it, it can be stored in a normal fridge for a few days and that will make a big difference to rolling this vaccine out but we must remember, regulators are yet to approve it and we're still waiting for more data about how effective it is how safe it is. particularly in the older population, we do not know that and that will make a difference as to who you prioritise for receiving it. indeed. that will be absolutely crucial because older people are more susceptible to serious complications. this does make a difference to herd immunity. what we know at the moment is any vaccine is effective at preventing disease, but we do not know how effective a cross at the age groups. 0lder we do not know how effective a cross at the age groups. older people tend to have —— the vaccine is effective.

0lder older people do not have as good in immune response as a young people so what will probably see in the next 30 weeks is that data by each clip how effective it is and then we will know exactly who will be prioritised by the vaccine —— in the next two or three weeks. to talk about the nature of the virus i am joined by dr naomi forrester—soto. she's an expert in the study of viruses at keele university. cani can ijust can i just pick can ijust pick up that pfizer are saying that mine is not the big issue without? the fact it is stable at room temperature makes it easier to deploy but it is still maintaining that cold chain from the manufacturing facility to the gp surgery and that is something we have not really had to do any plastic because most viruses are sta ble plastic because most viruses are stable at minus 20, sorry, vaccines are safe at —20, not —80 degrees. so

thatis are safe at —20, not —80 degrees. so that is the biggest difficulty i can see with that logistical transport. given what we know at the moment, what is a realistic timeframe for us to start seeing a real difference in how we are all going to have to behave in the meantime? that is a good question. although i am cautiously optimistic about this vaccine and it does look promising, they still have to finish the clinical trial and go through regulators. even if we start deploying it as soon as that happens, it is still going to take about six to nine months before enough of the population have had a vaccine for us to be confident that enough people are protected and that a lot of the social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands might not be quite as important and i think anyone should think that the arrival of this vaccine does not mean you still have to wear masks and social distance, and wash your hands and think about the fact that

people still can transmit this virus. i think that is really important. when we are talking about who should be prioritised, in the early vaccination programme, that is going to change as we find out more about these test results, isn't it? yes. it will. but this particular vaccine —— for this particular vaccine. 0thers vaccine —— for this particular vaccine. others are being developed and as they get a role that they may have different profiles in different age groups so depending on the vaccine that is actually deployed, that may change the strategy in who gets it first. it is still fluid and ido gets it first. it is still fluid and i do not think we should take anything as a red until we have the data from that final, that final data from that final, that final data from that final, that final data from the clinical trial. we are all behaving like there is light at the end of the tunnel and i'm just wondering if that light gets brighter, if there is mass vaccination across the uk, how long before it becomes effective? we have talked about how to immunity and we a lwa ys talked about how to immunity and we always get into trouble for doing so, but herd immunity is the right thing to talk about when we're

talking about a vaccine, isn't it? yes, it is at the right thing when we're talking about it vaccine. although, with coronavirus, we do not know because we have never had an effective vaccine against the coronavirus. how long that immunity from the vaccine will last. although we will have herd immunity for a short while, how long that herd immunity, and how often we are going to have to re—vaccinate people in order to maintain that herd immunity still has to be determined, so this may not be a one and done, we may be dealing with this for a while and until we understand a little bit more about how the vaccines work and how long term at the immunity is. on that basis, information and communication is going to be very important. plenty of people already saying they will not take any vaccination because they do not have faith in it. what message needs to be cut across? —— got across. faith in it. what message needs to be cut across? —— got acrosslj think the message that needs to be got across is that these vaccines

have gone through effective trials. they have gone through a lot of the processes , they have gone through a lot of the processes, it has just been speeded up. i know it seems very fast and that might scare some people. the other thing is that we are getting a vaccine now that is at the best that we have, but that may not be the best one in the future so what if you take in the first case, you may have to get another one at a later point in order to get a longer term immunity. so do not think that is the end of the study. as everybody has seen over the past year, this is an evolving situation because everything changes and we understand more as we move along so just be patient with us as we try and determine the best option for getting everybody protected against this virus. we wish everybody well connected with this work. thank you very much, doctor and forrester. —— doctor naomi forrester.

the welsh government has confirmed there will be no gcse, as or a—level exams there next summer. pupils will now be awarded grades based on teacher—managed assessments. let's get more on this with ruth davies, who is the president of the national association of head teachers in wales. i'm alsojoined by cerys harris, and a level student from north wales. 0ne one thing we did know as the exam series 2021 was going to look considerably different to what we have encountered before and so we welcomed the welsh government's view that things do need to change and whether they have been changed enough remains to be seen. caddis, what was your reaction when you heard this? i think it is a fair measure of the work we have done over the year because we have had and lacked a lot of face—to—face learning and the help we usually get so learning and the help we usually get so it is good to be have some clarification finally. but when you

finish the academic year, is are a worry that what you're holding your hand in terms of here i have my grades, will carry as much weight as they did last year? yeah, definitely. i feel like a lot of people will have the view that we have not earned it as much as the other students have years before us andl other students have years before us and i really hope that universities still accredit as and will be accepting of the grade that we get as welsh students. ruth, that is a worry that actually this may increase any inequality that already exists. absolutely. and with the unknowns we referred to earlier in the system, the opportunity for inequity this year is potentially greater. there's your‘s students will have had less opportunity to access teaching and learning and perhaps not the same opportunities to even attend the settings and we need to take all of this into account and really preserve the

integrity of the hard work the stu d e nts integrity of the hard work the students will have put into their grades up until this point and to really acknowledge the wealth of skill that the teachers who know them best bring to the task of assigning these grades. what is it like learning away from school and within your restriction is questioning you feel you have somehow been short changed? 10096. i feel high have not learned as much asi feel high have not learned as much as i had last year, the start of my as—level i felt confident and ready to take on exams, but this year, as much as we are not sitting an exam, perse, much as we are not sitting an exam, per se, we are still setting an externally based exam, basically and ido externally based exam, basically and i do not feel prepared for it and confident as i feel learning from home isjust not the correct environment. there are going to be some out there who are rather pleased because, frankly, they hate taking exams. yes. i am not the

biggest fan of exams, but there is still that opportunity to sit an exam as a w] sea have said. it is not the normal exam, but an externally based one that they will be monitoring, but any classroom rather than a whole and they are measuring our classwork as well as our coursework so it is a hybrid syste m our coursework so it is a hybrid system that has spread more across the year rather than invite at the end of the year. one thing that is inevitable with this decision is it puts a lot more pressure on the teachers, doesn't it? it puts a lot more pressure on the teachers and learners. this year, cerys is absolutely right, their opportunity to learn will have been considerably curtailed and the focus needs to be, surely, and expanding the opportunity for as much teaching as possible. what we face with a hybrid scenario as they one presented at lunchtime today is the potential to have the worst of all worlds. what we do not want to so much assessment

that good opportunities for teaching are completely crammed out and what we certainly do not want is for people like cerys to turn up for assessment and to be assessed on teaching they simply have not had. downing street is saying that england will continue, they will run at the exams are slightly later, but they will run the exams are nonetheless. that adds to the inequality issue, doesn't it? nonetheless. that adds to the inequality issue, doesn't mm leads to the potential for a lack of parity between the way nations perhaps assess the grades and that leads to a whole new conversation about the worth and value in the exa m syste m about the worth and value in the exam system anyway. we need to have a system that is responsive to change and responsive to 21st—ce ntu ry change and responsive to 21st—century learners and 20% of employers and if nothing else, maybe the conversation that runs —— 21st—ce ntu ry the conversation that runs —— 21st—century employers and perhaps this will open up new possibilities and areas for us to explore. cerys, you are an a—level student and are

thinking about what happens next, whether it is universally earlyjob. this is an important moment in your life, isn't it? -- or ajob. definitely. i am life, isn't it? -- or ajob. definitely. lam hoping life, isn't it? -- or ajob. definitely. i am hoping to going to university next year, but i am obviously worried about reaching the requirements because if the requirements because if the requirements are still just requirements because if the requirements are stilljust as high as they have been every other year, as they have been every other year, as well as peoples that have deferred in years before, they competitiveness to get into university is going to be even harderand like university is going to be even harder and like you said with the inequality of the education system and the measure of our a—level qualification is different across england, wales, scotland, everywhere, it just makes england, wales, scotland, everywhere, itjust makes it even harder. i will ask you something that sounds a bit trite, but i'm just wondering if in the next few months there lessons with teachers, however short, long they are, they will be more important, aren't they? definitely. 0ur college has already said attendance is key, whether it be virtual or face—to—face learning. and i think that is completely true

now because within assessment, quite regularly, we are not going to want to mess any lessons so they hold a lot more importance than they used to. —— not to miss any lessons. lot more importance than they used to. -- not to miss any lessons. we are all hoping this news about the vaccine proves to be what it seems to be and the light at the end of the tunnel is seen out, but let's face it, in academic terms, this has been one awful year. it has and we have to keep the learner at the heart of all of our decisions. we have to be sure we are thinking in terms of 2020 to 2021 being a year like no other and we have two, and all our decision—making, make sure we keep the needs of the learner at the heart of them. ruth davies and cerys harris. good luck with the next year, cerys.

a damning report has concluded leaders in the catholic church in england and wales "turned a blind eye" to sexual predators. the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse examined more than 3000 accusations dating back to 1970. it concluded that the archbishop of westminster, cardinal vincent nichols, chose to protect the reputation of the church over the well—being of survivors and victims. survivors have been calling for his resignation. well, i quite understand how some of the survivors will say that and how they will feel that. i know they're angry, and i understand that. it's a very difficult thing to live with for me. i know people are angry, and i accept that, but i also have a job to do. i'm told to carry on doing it, and i will. that's, as i say, where my direction comes from. 0ur correspondent sangita myska says the pressure on cardinal nichols is growing. those calls for vincent nichols' resignation are likely to grow as a result of this report. let me just give you some context, simon. so this report runs to well over 140 pages and it examines allegations

of child sexual abuse within the catholic church between 1970 and 2015. that's 900 complaints and 3000 separate incidents. what the report concludes is that the likely number of incidents is going to be far greater and that the true scale can never be known. as you have already indicated, cardinal nichols is singled out for specific criticism. let me just read you a couple of those quotes. the report says that "at times, the report finds cardinal nichols has shown he cares more about the impact of child sexual abuse on the catholic church's reputation than on victims". it goes on to say that after he gave evidence to the enquiry in 2018, he then made an apology to victims, but it adds, "he did not acknowledge any personal responsibility or show compassion for the victims in the recent cases that were examined".

it goes on to conclude that "real and lasting changes to attitudes have some way to go if the roman catholic church is to shake off the failures of the past". more people lost theirjobs between july and september than at any point on record as the pandemic closed large parts of the economy. around 314,000 redundancies were registered during the three months, up by 181,000 from the quarter before, i will take you to hollywood because the first minister is about to outline the new five level to your system. she is getting more details now. two weeks ago, the scottish government published the new strategic approach to tackling covid and we confirmed the level of affection that would apply to

each local authority initially. i indicated then that the allocation of labels would be reviewed on a weekly basis and our intention, u nless we weekly basis and our intention, unless we consider more urgent action to be necessary is to set out any changes or natures day and for those changes to take effect on a friday. however, ican those changes to take effect on a friday. however, i can confirm at the outset that the majority of local authorities will see no immediate change this week. i will set out in the rational behind our decisions and we are publishing on the scottish garment website this afternoon detailed data for each local authority. it is important to be clear —— scottish government website. firstly, iwill be clear —— scottish government website. firstly, i will report on today's statistics. the total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 832. that represents a 9.5% of people newly tested and take the total number of cases to 75,187. 293 other cases were in greater glasgow and clyde, 171 in lanarkshire, 114 and clyde, 171 in lanarkshire,114 in both and 90 in ayrshire and arran. the remaining cases were spread across the other seven men

and arran. the remaining cases were spread across the other seven mainland health boards. 0ne doesn't hundred and 39 people are now in hospital an increase of 12 from yesterday and 102 people are in intensive care, which is three fewer than yesterday. i also deeply regret to say that any past 24 hours, a further 39 deaths have been registered of patients who first tested positive over the previous 20 days. that means the total number of deaths under this measure is now 3079. two weeks ago, that number was 2726. tomorrow's update from national records of scotland will give us a fuller picture of the number of deaths based on its wider definition, but even using today's figures, the fact we have seen more than 300 people dying in the past two weeks is a sharp reminder of the heartbreak is a virus causes and why we must do all we can to tackle it. 0nce we must do all we can to tackle it. once again, my deepest condolences go to all of those who have lost a loved one. presiding officer, those

who have lost someone or who are living with the long—term effects of covid carry the greatest burden of their spiders, but i know everyone is finding the experience and restrictions —— of this a virus, eve ryo ne restrictions —— of this a virus, everyone is finding this very difficult. the figures contribute to a sense there is no light at the end of the tunnel. throughout the pandemic, i have tried not to give false assurance and done my best to be straight about the challenge we face and i'm going to stick with that approach. not least because, as will be obvious from my statement today, we do still face tough times ahead. but, and it is as important, there are grounds for optimism. we are not at the end of the tunnel yet, but a glimmer of light has appeared. yes, there will be dipped in the road and that means the light might be scared at times, but it is a very much there and we are heading towards it. yet ‘s announcement of the vaccine trial from pfizer was

extreme encouragement. that is not the only vexing undergoing trials just now and there are questions still to be answered and hurdles to ove rco m e still to be answered and hurdles to overcome and it will take time, practically and majestically to get large numbers of people vaccinated, but this was the most positive indication yet that science will get us out of this and it will hopefully do so any not too distant future. that has a really good news. even the not—too—distant that has a really good news. even the not—too—dista nt future that has a really good news. even the not—too—distant future is still the not—too—distant future is still the future. that means, for now, it isa the future. that means, for now, it is a down to all of us to keep the virus under control and save lives by sticking to the rules and guidance. hereto we have some cause for cautious optimism. the sacrifices everyone is making our ha rd sacrifices everyone is making our hard and feel never—ending, but they are helping. they have made a difference and that they are saving lives. i have no doubt about that and no one should be in doubt about that. to illustrate a point, let me give some detail on one of the measures we look at each week, the average number of new cases per day

over a continuous seven day period based on the day when each test sample was given. in just three weeks between friday 25th of september and 16th october, scotland's average daily figure for a new cases increased by more than 150%. it arose from 482 to 1217. if thatis 150%. it arose from 482 to 1217. if that is scale of increase had continued, we would now have around 3000 new cases a day. instead, in the next three week period, the number of new cases are stayed at more or less at the same average daily level. so by last friday, the average daily figure was a 1174. there have also been some signs of a form in hospital admissions. in the seventh day is to the 30th of october, 725 people were admitted to hospital with covid, any seventh day is 26 november, just a spread, 545 we re is 26 november, just a spread, 545 were admitted. there is no doubt

that the restrictions we have put in place and that people are abiding by have dramatically slowed the spread of the virus. that figure for hospital admissions, of the virus. that figure for hospitaladmissions, more of the virus. that figure for hospital admissions, more than 500 ina hospital admissions, more than 500 in a week, is still too high. the number of new cases were seen, more than 1000 a day on average, is also still too high. this is crucial. while we have seen a levelling off, we are not yet seeing a sustained fall in cases, in fact, although there was a very slight fall in some recent weeks, last week we actually saw a slight increase. clearly, that requires continued caution. as i have set out before, a rising or even a plateauing rate of infection is not a stable position. we want to see a decline in cases. we will be monitoring the situation carefully in the days ahead and cannot rule out the need to take action beyond what i will set out today. in light of the situation i have just outlined, it would clearly not be prudent to ease the restrictions

today. with one exception, for a p pa re ntly today. with one exception, for apparently i'm island authorities which i will set out shortly. however, i can confirm that no local authority will move down a level this week. in light of particularly sharp increases in cases, u nfortu nately sharp increases in cases, unfortunately three local authorities will move up from a level two to level three. and while no local authority, i'm pleased to say, well a move to level for this week, there are a number that are giving us some cause for concern and we will be monitoring these particularly closely over the next few days. i will come onto the detail of that in a moment. let me first set out, again, the indicators and widerfactors first set out, again, the indicators and wider factors that we consider in reaching this decision we look at data for each local authority on a case numbers per 100,000 of the population, trends in case numbers, test positivity at hospital and intensive care capacity and we are publishing the data that has informed decisions for each local authority today and you can look at it on the scottish government website. we also the extent to which

different local authority areas are contributing to the situation across the country as a whole and the links and interdependencies between them. we seek to balance the wider health, economic and social harms caused by the restrictions in place. we consider the advice of public health directors through the national incident management team and consult with local authorities. the cabinet and advice from the national medical ulcer, balances all of these factors and reaches decisions. —— national medical officer. let me turn to the details of the decisions which i capitalist money. firstly, i can confirm ireland, foot, —— i can confirm ireland, foot, —— i can confirm that hyland, moray will remain at level one. all necessary precautions must be taken and schools and colleges and health care settings. there is one restriction that we do intend to ease for people living in shetland, orkney and the western isles. from friday,

residents of these three island authorities will be able to meet with one household in their homes up toa with one household in their homes up to a strict maximum of six people. these island authorities have no case numbers and sporadic and we recognise the social isolation caused by such a restriction is often exacerbated in island communities where there is not as many public places to meet. however, and this is an important caveat, importation of the virus is a real risk to the islands. for that reason, we will also be issuing clear guidance advising anyone who goes to our returns to the islands from the mainland to invite in—house mixing for a period after their return. —— a void mixing. we do not yet consider it prudent to lift this restriction for people in hyland and a moray. although these cases remain —— in highland and moray. we

continue to ask that they do not visit each other‘s homes except for acce ntu re visit each other‘s homes except for accenture purposes like childcare, looking after a vulnerable person are being part of an extended household —— essential purposes like childcare, looking at the barrow person and being part of an extended hassle. let me no time to those areas now currently in level two. i can confirm that aberdeenshire, aberdeen city, the borders, dumfries and galloway and argyll and bute will all remain at level two. these are all remain at level two. these are all areas that will be, hopeful, as iam, ofa move to all areas that will be, hopeful, as i am, of a move to level once sent usa i am, of a move to level once sent us a while there are some signs of stability and even improvement in most of them, that is not yet sufficient evidence of a sustained decline any number of cases. indeed, i have to point out that the borders and, any lesser extent in dumfries and, any lesser extent in dumfries and galloway, we have seen an increase in cases in the most recent data that we have available. for these reasons, we consider it

sensible for these areas to remain in level two for now, but remain hopeful that some or all of them will be able to move to level one soon. the other areas currently in a level to our site, perth and kinross and angus. i can confirm that we had taken the very difficult —— fife we have taken it very difficult to move fife, perth and kinross and angus to level three from friday. while on the rider indicators alone, angus and perth and kinross are not meeting the level three thresholds and fife is meeting one of them, all three areas are on a sharply rising trajectory. the most recent data shows that in the space of a week, the seven—day number of cases per 100,000 of the population has increased in perth and kinross by 32%, increased in perth and kinross by 3296, in increased in perth and kinross by 32%, in fife by 40% and in angus are by 47%. the advice of the chief medical officer and national clinical director is that level to restrictions may well not be

sufficient to slow down and reverse increases of this magnitude and as a result, an early move to level three was strongly recommended. i know how disappointing this will be two people in this area. by acting now we can hopefully prevent an even more serious deterioration in the situation in future. i would ask people living in these areas to check the government website to understand the restrictions in place. businesses will also find details of the financial support available from the scottish government. that is in addition to the uk government's furlough scheme. a factor relevant to this is proximity to and interaction with the city of dundee. dundee entered level three entered on the 2nd of november and they will remain there. i hope that people going into level three will take encouragement from

it. the most recent data shows that cases and the our rate declining. although we cannot say that this will be sustained for sure, the trend is very positive. there are 18 local authorities currently at level three will remain there. it is important to note that there is a varied picture across the level three areas and a move to level four in the near future cannot be ruled out for reasons that i will outline. firstly, on the positive side, some of the current level three areas are like dundee and showing encouraging signs. i would like dundee and showing encouraging signs. iwould mention like dundee and showing encouraging signs. i would mention with varying degrees of confidence edinburgh, east dunbartonshire, falkirk north ayrshire and east ayrshire. obviously we will monitor all of these areas carefully, but we hope that if people continue to abide by

all of the restrictions, we will continue to see improvement and some of these areas may be able to move out of level three relatively soon. there are two categories of level three areas that we will be considering carefully over the next week. firstly, there are areas where current restrictions have worked very effectively to halt sharp increases in cases and stabilise the situation. that includes the city of glasgow and north and south lanarkshire. west glasgow and north and south la narkshire. west lowly and glasgow and north and south lanarkshire. west lowly and ann dunbartonshire as well. that stabilisation is positive news, don't lose sight of that. because of the sacrifice that people are making the sacrifice that people are making the situation is coming down. while it has stabilised, it stabilise at a stubbornly high level. i set out previously about going into the

winter with a high level of cases evenif winter with a high level of cases even if it has plateaued. the difficult question we must consider in the next phase is whether more time in level three will start to reduce cases in these areas or whether that is going to require more action. finally there are some areas in level three where we are seeing a sharp rise in cases. i have to point out to the chamber right now we are particularly concerned about in for clyde and sterling. and toa about in for clyde and sterling. and to a lesser extent three other places. the advice has been since these areas are already in the tougher level three restrictions and given the need to understand the situations in these areas in more detail, and immediate move to level four is not merited. however we should monitor the data for these areas closely and on a daily basis. given the severity of the level for

restrictions we will not move anyone to that level lightly. we want to give the current levels more chance to work. nor will we shy moving away from doing that if we think it is necessary. or if we think a short period at level four it may be less harmful overall than a prolonged period at level three. these are difficult decisions and i want to stress that the week ahead is a crucial juncture. stress that the week ahead is a crucialjuncture. i stress that the week ahead is a crucial juncture. i will stress that the week ahead is a crucialjuncture. i will keep parliament fully updated. i want to stress this point, the best chance all of us have of avoiding a move to level four and moving our area down a level is to stick with it and abide by the current restrictions. i know fatigue is setting in and frustration is setting in as well. i appeal to everyone across the country, particularly if you might have been letting your guard down recently, please redouble your

efforts. particularly, do not visit other peoples houses, please. that is the biggest risk of passing the virus. we know and can show and i have done that to some extent today that all of these hard sacrifices are making a difference. the fact is they will only make a big enough difference if all of us do all of the right things all of the time. that is tough, but it is the reality that we face. finally, let me stress the travel restrictions that remain essential to a targeted approach to tackling the virus. they will remain in guidance over the next week, but we prepared to —— we are preparing the necessary steps to put them in law. we will only do that if we think it is necessary. i appeal that the population abide by these now. if you live in a level three council

area, do not travel outside that local authority issue. unless it is work or health care or. you can find the full list of essential purposes on the scottish government website. if you live elsewhere, do not travel into a level three area except for the same essential purposes. and please don't travel outside of scotla nd please don't travel outside of scotland or overseas unless it is for essential purposes. were going to pull away from that. you can continue watching that on bbc scotland. that is nicola sturgeon who has announced that three areas are going up one tier to level three. level three that they are not... food and nonalcoholic drinks are able to be had until 6pm. a few places are moving to tier 3. other areas, no change. aberdeen sure, the

borders, argyll, remaining at level two. nicola sturgeon saying that one restriction is that people living around the aisles will be able to meet with one inside their homes up toa meet with one inside their homes up to a strict maximum of six people. that is the latest review of scotland. us attorney general william barr has allowed prosecutors to probe alleged irregularities in the presidential election and that decision immediately prompted a senior justice department official to quit. donald trump refuses to accept joe biden's projected victory and has made unsubstantiated fraud claims. all this as mr biden has starts asembling his team to prepare for taking over the white house injanuary. david willis reports. joe biden is wasting little time preparing for his ascent to the white house, anouncing the line up of a task force to deal with an issue that could dominate the early days of his presidency, the coronavirus.

and holding his first call as president—elect with a foreign leader, canada's prime minister justin trudeau. as that call was taking place, donald trump, who since the election result was announced has only been seen on the golf course, was firing his defence secretary mark esper, "terminating him", in the words of the president. it is thought other high profile administration officials could soon follow mr esper out the door. the president has yet to concede the election, and his team is mounting legal challenges in multiple states. the top republican in the us congress told law makers mr trump was fully entitled to contest the outcome. the core principle here is not complicated. in the united states of america, all legal ballots must be counted, any illegal ballots must not be counted, the process should be transparent, or observerable, by all sides,

and the courts are here to work through concerns. and after meeting with mitch mcconnell, the attorney general bill barr announced that the us justice department would be involving itself in investigations into voterfraud. that, as the president set about attacking his former ally fox news and other media outlets, accusing them of tampering with the election by broadcasting polls that he said had been inaccurate. fox later cut off the white house press secretary as she sought to explain donald trump's refusal to concede. you don't take these positions because you want an honest election. you don't oppose an audit of the vote because you want an accurate count. you don't oppose our efforts at sunlight and transparency because you have nothing to hide. you take these positions because you are welcoming fraud and illegal voting. ijust think we have to be very clear that she is charging the other side as welcoming fraud and welcoming illegal voting.

unless she has more details to back that up, i can't in good countenance continue showing you this. it all points to a messy and rancorous transition period, with less than ten weeks to go before inauguration day. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. as americans come to terms with last week's election, supporters on both sides of the spectrum have expressed their discontent with events since polling day. joining me now from florida is donna jean crocker, who is a businesswoman and a republican voter. alsojoining us shortly is elicia hand, who is a writer and a democrat voter from california. donna if i can start with you, and the last few minutes we've been hearing from donald trump who has been tweeting. she said —— he says we've been making big progress, make america great again. he has tweeted since then to say we will win. how do you assess where we are? well

there has been such widespread fraud. there has been fraud for yea rs fraud. there has been fraud for years in our elections, but this is right in your face. years in our elections, but this is right in yourface. it years in our elections, but this is right in your face. it has to be stopped or people will feel like there is no reason to go and vote because it is already determined by the one who does the fraud. have you seen any evidence of fraud? actually i have. and i think most people have. i have seen evidence where we have. i have seen evidence where we have gosh there is just so much, have. i have seen evidence where we have gosh there isjust so much, we know that in pennsylvania the judges... went and said that they had three more days after the final day of election to turn in ballots. they did not have to be dated, proof, no id. well, that is wrong. thejudges do not proof, no id. well, that is wrong. the judges do not have the right to make the laws. i hope that the supreme court smacks them down over

that. they are there to interpret the laws, not make the laws. that was so it could be covered up the fraud that was coming in pennsylvania. before then and a couple of days ago, the math made it impossible for donald trump to win. joe biden had one enough votes to win the presidency. do not accept that? how did he get those votes? clearly, by the folks. know, that is not clearly. a lot of it is fraud. people were paid $5, $8 to have their signatures on them. a lady said she was selling them and she gets paid in cash and she made something like $68,000 doing it. it is not clearly that it is the votes. resident from got 72 million votes. people went to the polls to vote in

person and were given... and we have that on tv, they were given smarty pens and then when they put them in the machine, it would not take them. do you think they'll let them do it over with the correct pen? they are the ones who gave them those pens. they would not let them do it over. it is the law that we can observe votes being counted. instead they put cardboard up over the windows so they could not see. and they kept moving the people further and further out with our people there to watch it. we know there is fraud, there is so much fraud. watch it. we know there is fraud, there is so much fraudlj watch it. we know there is fraud, there is so much fraud. i will stop you there. you have made that point. i want to talk to our other gas. you will have heard this a lot. a lot of fraud. what is your response? my response is... know, i've put that to the other guests. there is a lot

of disinformation that is going around on social media. sadly the math is not there. there have been four or five cases that have all been turned away. sadly, we cannot really get a hold of the pandemic or move forward if everybody is screaming fraud. we have people that are dying. our hospitals are full in california. joe biden is very big on health care and it is sad that there are so many people that are calling it as fraud when we really need to come together to fix the problems that are happening in america. but what do you say to donna jean who is listening to you? she says there is widespread fraud and donald trump should stay in the white house.|j would say to research and not listen to everything on facebook. i would look at actual news and to read all

the articles that are accepting that trump's votes are valid —— they are excepting that trump's votes are valid, butjoe excepting that trump's votes are valid, but joe biden's excepting that trump's votes are valid, butjoe biden's are not. that is pretty much all i can say about that. what do you want donald trump to do now? just to co-operate with the transition. that is pretty much it. donna jean, that is the message, the math is there, the vote is an and donald trump needs to accept it. the numbers are high and there is no way to go around that. donna jean, there is no way to go around that. 0h, there is no way to go around that. oh, yes there is. what we want is what's fair. if biden really has gotten those votes and beat trump fairly, we will except that. but we

will not at this point and it is not just facebook, there is so much... we can't look at the main media outlined. who wants to believe anything that cnn or abc has said? but fox got it right? fox stated but fox has change. if you don't believe in media and you don't think they are real, why are you here today speaking on it. if you don't believe any of it is to true? this was the bbc. i wish we had a usa channel that would be straight and would report the news like they used to instead of all of their opinions. well, the bbc was the second to call this election after cnn and the british prime minister has already sent his congratulations tojoe biden. there is a general acceptance here in the uk and at the bbc that the result is the result. well, it

is not to be called by the media. that is not how it is done. we will find out because the lawsuit will be there and he has the right to do that. the evidence will be there and the supreme court of the us will make the ruling and whatever they make the ruling and whatever they make we will all be with it. thank you to our gas. we are out of time, but thank you both very much. more than a hundred thousand people who have recovered from covid—19 have donated their blood plasma — to help those suffering from the virus, as part of a trial. one woman, who was the first person in the country to receive the treatment, has now met the man whose donation helped her to recover. graham satchell reports. i was on 90% oxygen and it was touch—and—go whether i needed the ventilator, but there was a couple of times it was very, very close. ann was severely ill with covid—19 at the end of april, in intensive care, when she was asked if she wanted

to take part in a trial. and they said "this is plasma, coming from someone that's already had it, that in this plasma there's antibodies. and we want to trial it, to see if it can help people like you." staff at st thomas' hospital in london filmed the moment ann was given the plasma. she was the first person in the country to get it. kugan is an a&e charge nurse who's pretty sure he got covid—19 at the hospital where he works. it was kugan's plasma that was given to ann. kugan and ann are about to meet for the first time. hello. hi. it's brilliant to see your face, it's amazing. i've been looking so forward to it. 0h, me too. oh, my god. grateful, thankful — there is no words on earth that can describe the feelings.

it isjust a simple thing everyone can do, ann. you've made such a difference, and my family and my friends are so grateful for you, they really are. i do think that you helped save my life. more than 130,000 people who have had covid—19 have now donated their plasma, and just over 1,000 patients have been given a transfusion. it's part of a large trial in hospitals across the uk, co—ordinated by the nhs blood and transfusion service to see if convalenscent plasma can be an effective treatment. absolutely amazing. i'm just so grateful that you people have given me the chance to meet him, and thank him. that report was from graham satchell. that report was from graham satchell.

the most senior catholic leader in england and wales has been criticised in a damning inquiry for seemingly prioritising the church over victims of sexual abuse by priests. the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse says cardinal vincent nichols demonstrated "a lack of understanding" of the impact of abuse on victims and put the "reputation of the church first". it says it found evidence of "repeated failures", including a lack of adequate safeguarding and missing opportunities to stop abusers within the church. joining us now to discuss these findings is richard scorer, who is the head of the abuse team at slater and gordon, a firm which has represented some of the survivors. richard, good to see you. this report pulls no punches. it is a very damning report and it is damning not just about the church very damning report and it is damning notjust about the church as a whole as an institution, but as you said it is very damning about cardinal vincent nichols. i think this is the strongest language i have seen used by a public inquiry about a prominent individual. it is very severe and rightly so. he has

apologised. what is his position at the moment do you think? well, he said, that he is not going to resign. his position is untenable, frankly. the criticisms are very severe and they relate to cases in which he has been personally involved, which i think it's an important part. we are not talking about just the failures of the institution although it serious, we're talking about a case he has beenin we're talking about a case he has been in personally. anybody else in any other public walk of life were to be subject to this kind of criticism, i think they would resign andi criticism, i think they would resign and i think that is what he needs to do. you have dealt with some of the survivors of this, how will they respond to this report?” survivors of this, how will they respond to this report? i think they will be very glad that the truth has come out, that the slowness of the catholic church over the very recent times in dealing with this issue evenin times in dealing with this issue even in light of everything that the

church has known about, the slowness is now being revealed. i think they will be dismayed at the idea that the leader of the catholic church who has presided over these many failings and has been responsible for some of them in cases he has dealt with personally, the idea that he would remain in office i think they would be very dismayed by.” know you have acted for victims in the rochdale scandal, this is still going on is it? in other places?” think we can have no confidence that the catholic church is dealing with this properly. the fundamental problem that we have seen over many yea rs problem that we have seen over many years is the tendency to deal with cases in—house. rather than reporting them to the statutory authorities. i think the only way we can deal with that in the future is having a manager reporting or a legal requirement that cases like this are reported to police and statutory authorities so they can be

investigated independently of the charge. that is fundamentally what we need. in due course that might be something that the inquiry recommends and i hope so. you are saying that the church cannot be trusted to police itself?” saying that the church cannot be trusted to police itself? i think thatis trusted to police itself? i think that is absolutely clear, and if you read the detail of the report you will see that. they have failed to get a will see that. they have failed to geta grip will see that. they have failed to get a grip on all of the scandals that have come to light. the only way to make sure that children are properly protected is to have a manager and some independent oversight. you need both of those things and without that we cannot have any confidence that we won't have any confidence that we won't have the scandals continuing. do you believe that the catholic church has changed in its attitude?” believe that the catholic church has changed in its attitude? i think the evidence from the report today that we heard in the hearing is that it has not changed anything. of course

there are individuals within the catholic church who are trying to do the right thing on this, but they are not supported at the top level, by the leadership in the form of cardinal nichols and they are not supported in my view by the vatican either. the report is very critical of the vatican for failing to co—operate with the inquiry. at the senior levels of the catholic church you see a complete failure to address these issues properly and thatis address these issues properly and that is why we need more radical changes. in your view, children are still at risk? i have to say that they are. i do not think we can have confidence that the catholic church is in the right place to deal with theseissues is in the right place to deal with these issues given what is in the report today. richard, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. you are watching bbc news. let's have a look at the weather. the weather is going to be a bit more u nsettled. weather is going to be a bit more unsettled. today, it is a rather

benign one. sunk spells of sunshine, but also some showers. out west we have this area of low pressure. it will bring wet and windy weather. pretty wet by the end of the night. further east it will be dried. a few clear spells, the winds will not be as strong here. it will be chilly thenit as strong here. it will be chilly then it will be for scotland and northern ireland. wednesday wet and windy to start. the rain will get into western parts of england and well later in the day. variable cloud, maybe a few bright and sunny spells. temperatures ranging from 11 to 14. thursday high pressure comes in to settle things down before bringing wet and windy weather on friday for the start of your weekend.

this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: gps are told to get ready to roll out the new covid vaccine from the start of next month. health secretary matt hancock says all nhs staff need to be prepared i know that they will rise to this challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. no exam results in wales next year — instead a—levels, as—levels, and gcses will be replaced with a system based on teacher assessments.

that headline because at the education ministerfor that headline because at the education minister for wales, that headline because at the education ministerfor wales, kirsty williams is addressing the senedd now with news of the cancellation of gcses, a.s. and a—level exams for this academic year. let's join her now. i look to our schools, colleges, qualifications body and the wider education sector to work cooperatively and collaboratively through the year to support our learners and enable them to progress with confidence. can i begin as well by thanking louise and qualifications wales for the advice and they have given the minister on this. i have to begin by saying that while i was completely understanding of your position in wanting to issue a written statement earlier today so to a life—threatening that schools would know the way this was your proceeding, i am deeply disappointed that the sunday times seems to have had a hold of the

story at least 48 hours before presenting it on the floor of this chamber. the rumour has it that it was the result of an interview probably two weeks ago, but maybe you can clarify that? is a long—time memberof the you can clarify that? is a long—time member of the opposition, i would have hoped that you would have realised how important it is to make statements of this nature on the floor of the chamber. anyway, i am glad to hear that you said it is an exceptional year. i would glad to hear that you said it is an exceptional year. iwould not glad to hear that you said it is an exceptional year. i would not want to run away from the decision today asa to run away from the decision today as a sort of precedent when this is clearly a response to a particular set of challenges. coronaviruses going to be with us for the foreseeable future but the response to it cannot be a perpetual cycle of closing down your groups or even a schools. my first question would be whether you're making the argument for priority of the new vaccine to be offered to children and teachers. i understand it is early days as pa rt of i understand it is early days as part of the progress of the vaccination is going, but perhaps you could give us a bit of an

insight into your thoughts on that to make sure this kind of disruption is limited in the future. what these reviewers have revealed is that home learning, blended learning really is no equivalent to learning in a school. the inconsistency of the experience of young people and, to be fair, our teachers as well, that time out of school has been effectively pinpointed in our decision today for the prime reason of dropping exams as we know them and about the uncertainty of what they summer will look like, it is what we have already experienced a seems to be a driving force in this. lam glad seems to be a driving force in this. i am glad you have gone with the qualifications wales proposal on the alternative to exams insofar as there is an external element to this, which i think, setting these assessments externally and marking them externally gives them a level of compatibility i think with the traditional exams were more familiar with. so in choosing the way

forward , with. so in choosing the way forward, what consideration did you get to the content of these assessments, having an identifiable similarity with what's gone before cuts and therefore supporting the argument i've just made that there isa argument i've just made that there is a level of accountability? and why this was —— level of compatibility. how much consideration did you get to the well— being of teachers to because, personally, i think teachers have ple nty personally, i think teachers have plenty on their plate at the moment. dealing with catch up, preparations for the curriculum and at the last thing i think they needed now was to be taking up time has a major players in the design of moderation system. how influential is qualification wales information that getting a robust system up at this time was pretty much impossible, but had there been time temperatures a syste m had there been time temperatures a system of validation percent central ss guards, but that had been your

preferred option? —— central grades. and how would teachers manage assessments in the classroom if a school has two, at the crucial time, have to be suspended totally on your grip going on? i cannot see this working online so what is the alternative for that if you have a school year that cannot set a teacher manage a classroom —based assessment? i think i need to ask you something about the a levels. the reason you have given for why a—level students will not be setting an exam of any kind andl not be setting an exam of any kind and i understand what you have said about the university are saying they're used to the sort of thing, but what advice would you give to your successor about university sticking to their word on this? are there any thoughts about how decisions come, necks, it is going to be, isn't it? to make sure

they're sticking to their wordand on location for qualifications, i'm glad you mentioned these. i know this is a far more complicated picture because it is a uk picture pretty much. i wonder if you could tell me the response to the uk guidance issued about a month ago. what has that been like? and also how to square the circle. and at the position for students studying per vocational qualification, primarily in colleges, will have been, their position will have been exactly the same for those studying for general qualifications in terms of disruption. and yet, the presumption is that they will be setting exams in the summer. so why are exams for these students fair when it is not fairfor these students fair when it is not fair for a—level students? thank you. thank you, deputy presenting author and can i thank susie davis for those questions. can i begin by saying there was no disrespect meant to members of this chamber with

regards to the interview i gave to the sunday times. the minister is quite right that interview took place two weeks ago. i'm not clear why the sunday times decided to sit on the interview and it was given to that paper in response to the publication of both sets of advice given to me and what we get the paper was a description, because they did not understand the difference between the two sets of advice. that publication was beyond my control, but i assure no disrespect was meant to members of this chamber and, as you have read, if you read this sunday times story, it was speculation, and at the story was wrong with regard to decision i made about a level so ijust was wrong with regard to decision i made about a level so i just want to reassure the change that no disrespect by that and it is a lesson for me. the member talked about the vaccine and i understand why because this has been an incredibly grim yearfor why because this has been an incredibly grim year for all of us.

and therefore, even at the prospect of the thanks in coming forward is something we want to grab hold of deputy providing ulcer, i guess we all grateful for those incredible mines across the world her working hard. we have to have a little bit of caution, there is still a long way to go. the the sheer scale of the challenges i really, really challenging and the first minister outlined some of those earlier. with regards to the roll—out of that vaccine, clearly we will be guided by the committee that provides advice to governments across the uk as to the appropriate use of a vaccine and it is simply too early to tell at this stage, but clearly, vulnerable members of society,

whether they be working in education outside of education will be a priority, i'm sure. what we are also looking at is our alternative testing regimes to support education and help minimise any disruption and thatis and help minimise any disruption and that is much more on the forefront of our minds because that is much more a likely situation we can influence and are in wales rather than the vaccine. susie davies says that the decision today demonstrates the challenges of a blended learning and how we help supported learners who find themselves outside our schools. she is right to point out that that situation is variable and we continue to work with the education sector to iron out that variability. last week during the firebreak i am aware of schools who delivered the entirety of their timetable by a life lessons and

other skills were not able to do that, but i am sure any member would admit —— by life lessons. i am sure if you listen to the teacher who was on the radio this morning that when that blended learning is of the best quality, it is no substitute for being in score. and the problem i face and that our teachers and stu d e nts face and that our teachers and students face is that we cannot guarantee how much time they will spendin guarantee how much time they will spend in front of their teachers. we have already seen huge amounts of variability and some children, as i have said, very, very fortunate and have said, very, very fortunate and have not been affected and had been in school all of the time. other stu d e nts in school all of the time. other students i spoke to have already endured four weeks of having to isolate because they have been in a bubble that has seen a positive case. so it is not, i agree we need to do better on blended learning, but that is not necessarily the reason for this driver today. with

regards to the nature of the assessments, it is really important that there is a variety of ways in which children are assessed. with regards to the nature and number of the assessments, that detail will be for the design and delivery group. as in response to the recommendation by lewis cass's report. learning lessons from last year of not doing something to the system, but working with the system to create a robust and equal and with the system to create a robust and equaland fair with the system to create a robust and equal and fair system as possible. that is indeed of mindful of teacher workload and there is a balance about empowering teachers to be struck and lots want to be empowered, take on the show, but also being mindful of the incredible pressure that they are already under simply keeping the doors open. there is that balance to be struck between what other members of the education sector can do in wales to support them in this work. we believe the

senedd. that is the education minister kirsty williams announcing that exams are for gcse, eas levels and a—levels to be cancelled the summer 2021 and based on a teachers assessment. it will be done under teacher supervision and start in the spring term and be externally set and marked but delivered within the classroom. the situation in england is different where exams will go ahead, but are delayed. that decision there in wales, we will leave the senedd and the education of williams. —— education minister ki rsty of williams. —— education minister kirsty williams. gps have been asked to be on standby from the start of next month to offer the new covid vaccination — if regulators say it's safe and effective. the government's already ordered enough doses of the vaccine for 20 million people.

this as the number of weekly registered deaths involving coronavirus in england and wales has exceeded 1000 for the first time sincejune. our health correspondent anna collinson has more. a possible coronavirus vaccine has been likened to a light at the end of a tunnel. approval is still needed and there are questions about how well it will work and how long it will last, but the uk may have its firstjabs by christmas. the logisitics are complex, the uncertainties are real and the scale of the job is vast, but i know that the nhs, brilliantly assisted by the armed services, will be up to the task. i know that they will rise to this challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. early results for the first effective vaccine show it could prevent more than 90% of people from getting covid. with the main roll—out expected to take place early next year, the government has announced extra funding for gps, but many are still urging caution.

this is going to take time. it's going to be required to be given to a far larger number of patients than the flu vaccine. secondly, it has significant transportation issues. it has been well reported that this vaccine needs to be transported at a very low temperature, much lower than your fridge—freezer at home, —80 degrees. that poses difficulties. new research is warning a third of people may not accept a covid vaccination and the uk must do more to address fears. a small minority may not be suitable due to health reasons. i'm quite concerned that people like myself, who are allergic to certain medications, won't be able to have the covid—19 vaccine because i'm just not sure if i'm going to be allergic to it or not, which could lead to a life—threatening situation where i could go into anaphylactic shock. while a vaccine may be in sight, other measures are still important. last week mass testing started in liverpool. the government has announced all nhs staff who come into contact with patients will be tested,

even if they don't have symptoms, while students in england may soon be offered tests so they can go home for christmas. but england's test and trace has been repeatedly criticised for not dealing with infected people and their contacts quickly enough. this morning its boss defended its record to mps. i'm afraid, much as i would love that testing and tracing on its own would be a silver bullet to holding back the tide of covid, unfortunately the evidence in the uk, and in every other country in europe, is that is not the case, that actually the way we have to tackle the disease is through a variety of different interventions, and we are one of the ways, not the only way. official figures show 1597 coronavirus deaths were recorded in the uk in the week ending october 30th. the number of people dying continues to be above normal levels for this time of year. it is unlikely a new vaccine will impact on the uk's winter wave, but it's still a moment for hope.

no more so than for the married couple who helped develop the jab. ugur sahin and oezlem tuereci are the founders of biontech and have been hailed as the brains behind the operation. anna collinson, bbc news. a damning report has concluded leaders in the catholic church in england and wales "turned a blind eye" to sexual predators. the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse examined more than 3000 accusations dating back to 1970. it concluded that the archbishop of westminster, cardinal vincent nichols, chose to protect the reputation of the church over the well—being of survivors and victims. survivors have been calling for his resignation. well, i quite understand how some of the survivors will say that and how they will feel that. i know they're angry, and i understand that. it's a very difficult thing to live with for me. i know people are angry, and i accept that, but i also have a job to do. i'm told to carry on doing it, and i will. that's, as i say, where my

direction comes from. richard scorer is the head of the abuse team at slater and gordon, a firm which has represented some of the survivors. it isa it is a very, very damning report and it is damning notjust about the church as a whole, the church as an institution, but as you said, it is a very damning about cardinal vincent nichols. i think this is the strongest language i have seen used bya strongest language i have seen used by a public enquiry about a prominent individual in public life andi prominent individual in public life and i think the criticism is a very severe and rightly so. he has taken to the airwaves, he has apologised, what is his position at the moment, do you think? he said, as i understand it, that he is not going to resign. i think his position is, frankly, untenable. the criticisms are very severe frankly, untenable. the criticisms are very severe and frankly, untenable. the criticisms are very severe and they relate to cases in which he has been personally involved, which i think is an important point so we are not just talking about the failures of the institution, although those are very serious, but we're talking about cases in which he has been

personally involved and i think it anybody in any other walk of public life were to be subject to this kind of criticism, i think they would resign and i think that is what cardinal nichols needs to do. richard, you have dealt with some of the victims, the survivors of this. how will they respond to this report? well, i think they will be glad that the truth has come at, that the slowness of the catholic church over very recent times in dealing with this issue, even in the light of everything that any church has known about the problem, that slowness has now been revealed, but i think they will be dismayed with the idea that the leader of the catholic church has presided over these many feelings and has been responsible for some of them in cases he has dealt with personally —— these many failings, the idea that he would remain in office, i think they would be very dismayed by that. you represented victims in any rush to grooming scandal and other

cases, for example. this is still going on in other places —— the rochdale case. i think we can have no confidence that the catholic church are dealing with this issue. the fundamental failing that we have seen is the tendency to deal with cases in—house, rather than report them to the statutory authorities andi them to the statutory authorities and i think the only way we can deal with that in future is by having a mandatory reporting law, a legal requirement that cases like this are reported to police and a statutory authority so that they can be investigated independently of the church. that is fundamentally what we need. and in due course, that may be something the enquiry recommends. i certainly hope it is. what you're saying is the church cannot be trusted to police itself on this?” think that is absolutely clear. it is very clear if you read any detail of the report that the catholic church has failed to get a grip on this issue, even as all the scandals have come to light. the only way to make sure children are properly

protected in the catholic church in the future is to have mandatory reporting and i believe some permanent form of oversight of catholics safeguarding. that has to happen as well and you need those two things, without that, you cannot have any confidence that we will not have any confidence that we will not have the scandals continuing. more people lost theirjobs between july and september than at any point on record as the pandemic closed large parts of the economy. around 314,000 redundancies were registered during the three months, up by 181,000 from the quarter before, according to the office for national statistics. it means there was an unemployment rate of 4.8% in the three months to september. andy verity reports. she wants to do 11. few businesses are more sensitive to the jobs market than recruitment consultants, like this small firm in canterbury. today's figures reveal even in the third quarter, when the economy was supposed to be bouncing back, the number of people starting newjobs was even lower than in lockdown. robbing firms like this of much of their income. almost overnight, to be honest, a lot of our clients just fell off a cliff.

we didn't have a lot of work, so we were all feeling quite panicked, working from home, doing what we could to all together keep the business alive. of three staff furloughed at this office, one has returned to work and another is branching out on his own. the market is definitely changing. we're seeing a massive pick up now that companies are decided to chuck budgets at different marketing strategies, within it as well as in marketing. so our main focus will be trying to fill as many roles for these people, and ultimately changing people's lives too. but the firm also had to lose a colleague, one of a record 314,000 made redundant in the three months to september, in the expectation that the furlough scheme would stop in october. it's hard, when you are being told you are going to be made redundant and that you're unemployed, it is really, really hard, you know. thank god for the furlough scheme — that was amazing, but, yes, you know, you are at a sticking point, you are like, "what do i do next?" yeah, it's tricky.

young people emerge from school and university into the worstjobs market since the depths of the great recession. youth employment dropped by a quarter of a million to its lowest ever level. when hiring slows down, this means there are fewer opportunities for young people in particular, and over time i think this will lead to us seeing unemployment continuing to rise, particularly for young people. the pandemic has also thrown another long—term trend into reverse. for more than a decade and a half, the number of workers from the rest of the eu working here has been growing, but in the third quarter, it took a record fall, down by more than 360,000. it is estimated that 2.5 million people were still on furlough in september. now it has been extended and there is a prospect that a vaccine could allow restrictions to be eased, unemployment is expected to peak at 7 or 8%. but with 800,000 fewer people in work than injanuary, the pandemic has nevertheless dealt the jobs market a heavy blow. andy verity, bbc news.

more now on our top story — and as the world assesses the importance of the latest covid—19 vaccine discovery, our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar looks at how the world is pulling together, and the challenges that lie ahead. from the moment scientists in china shared the genetic code for covid—19, the global race for a vaccine has been on. it usually takes around a decade to develop a new vaccine, but in less than a year it appears we do now have one for this coronavirus. this is an absolutely unprecedented situation we find ourselves in today, with over 200 vaccine candidates, 40 of them in clinical development within ten months of a new virus being discovered. there are more than ten potential vaccines in large human trials, known as phase 3 trials, across the world. the clear frontrunner is currently the pfizer and biontech candidate, announcing this week that their vaccine is 90% effective. more data is needed and studies involving more than 40,000 people in countries including the us,

brazil and south africa are still ongoing. china, russia and the uae are the only countries so far to approve vaccines for emergency use. uk and india—based pharmaceuticals are also doing large human trials, and smaller studies are under way too in cuba and kazakhstan. countries have their own medicines regulators that approve vaccines for their populations, but when a major agency like the us‘s food and drug administration gives a product the green light, many other countries follow suit. so how do you go about immunising the world's 7.7 billion people? manufacturing plants all over the world like this one in india are already starting to make hundreds of millions of doses of some of the most promising candidates. once you've bottled the vaccines, you then need to get them out into communities. this vaccine may need to be frozen, and this is a big challenge

in different countries. the second challenge is how to locate the elderly — we need to vaccinate them. the third challenge is two billion doses will be delivered to countries. what do we do with the used syringes? so the logistics are sorted, the vaccine is ready to go. who will get it first? no one is safe until everyone is safe. we know that demand for a successful vaccine will far outstrip supply in the initial months, so three of the big global health and vaccine organisations have come up with a new system called covax. it aims to ensure everyone anywhere in the world who needs the vaccine most gets access to it first. it wants to procure 2 billion doses to protect at least1 billion people in the next year.

first health workers and then the over 65s will be prioritised. so what you really want is a situation where you can begin to roll those vaccines out to begin to dampen down the epidemic, but if you have a region that has a raging epidemic you may want to put more priority in that region to be able to bring it down, than another place that already has pretty good control. most rich countries are still making side deals directly with pharmaceuticals, though. the uk, for example, has signed up for more than 300 million doses of six different vaccines. the us hopes to get 300 million doses of various vaccines by january. but remember, all of this is a bit of a gamble. the world health organisation says any vaccine for covid—19 must be at least 50% effective. and we are going to need more than one. we simply don't know yet how much protection these other vaccines could give or how long any protection will last. this virus has dominated all of our lives for far too long,

but we are edging ever closer to finding the tools needed to defeat it. tulip mazumdar, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. it looks like the weather is going to turn a bit more unsettled as we reach the middle part of the week with low pressure systems moving in off the atlantic. today, though, a rather benign one again — variable cloud, some spells of sunshine too, but also a few showers. but we're looking out west to this new area of low pressure which will start to encroach into northern ireland and western scotland this evening and overnight to bring wet and windy weather here. some pretty wet weather, in fact, by the end of the night across parts of western scotland. further east, it will be mainly dry, variable cloud, a few clear spells. the winds not as strong here as they will be further west, so a bit chillier than what it will be for scotland and northern ireland. for wednesday, then, it is very wet. windy to start across parts of northern ireland, western scotland. that rain getting into western parts of england and wales later

in the day, but further east it should stay dry, variable cloud, maybe a few bright or sunny spells and the odd shower. those temperatures ranging from 11 to 14 degrees. on thursday, a ridge of high pressure moves in. that will settle things down before more wet and windy weather arrives for friday and into the start of the weekend.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... gps are told to get ready to roll out the new covid vaccine from the start of next month. health secretary matt hancock says all nhs staff need to be prepared. know that they' challenge i know that they will rise to the challenge of being ready when the science comes good, to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. no exam results in wales next year — instead a—levels, as—levels, and gcses will be replaced with a system based on teacher assessments. a damning report says leaders of the catholic church in england and wales "turned a blind eye" to sexual predators. face to face for the first time —

the covid patient and the trial donor — whose plasma helped her to recover. and in a few minutes we'll be answering your questions about the covid—19 vaccine with two health experts — stay with us for that. stay with us first for the sport. and now we can go over to the bbc sport centre with holly. the three most powerful men in english football have been grilled by a parliamentary committee over failures to provide financial support to lower league clubs. the premier league's chief executive, the efl chairman and fa chair were also quizzed about project big picture, while fa chairman greg clarke has apologised for comments he made during the meeting. our correspondent laura scott has been following proceedings and i spoke to her earlier, firstly about the outcomes of the meeting. the whole purpose of bringing these three very influential man in front

of the mps was to discuss the ongoing challenges posed by coronavirus and on the subject of continuing negotiations over a bailout from the premier league to the efl, the pre—to make the premier league said there was a willingness to help, but they feel that the offer on the table which is £50 million of leagues one and two made up million of leagues one and two made up of grants and loans, he said that he thought that was sufficient. and it would not be a blank check. it was not underwriting losses, it was about helping clubs to survive. julia knight the chair of the committee said his understanding... that some clubs could struggle to make the payroll this month's. he hoped that by the end of the month or could be a resolution. paper view came up and it was said that they had listened to the feedback and they were moving away from that model. no details were given exactly

as to how they were going to do that moving forward. and gary clark had to apologise after he used language which many people would find offensive. yes, he was speaking for the first time since february, greg clark and he was pulled up on some comments that he made. he said he was deeply apologetic for. many would have found them outdated and inappropriate. the faa issued a statement saying that greg clark is deeply apologetic about the language that he used to reference the ethnic communities during the hearing today. he knows that using the term coloured is not appropriate. and he wholeheartedly apologise. that has prompted widespread criticism. another person said that their mark should be consigned to the dustbins of history and he was disappointed.

this question, —— this questions the fa past my commitment to diversity. another member said that the comments are a poor and. we also heard —— these comments kind of overshadowed these comments kind of overshadowed the other issues talked about today during the committee. england have called up 17—year—old jude bellingham for the first time for their forthcoming matches against republic of ireland, belgium and iceland. the borussia dortmund midfielder has been added to the squad following the withdrawal of james ward—prowse and trent alexander—arnold through injury. bellingham was originally included in the under—21 squad but will now link up with the seniors for the first time. ulster‘s billy burns is in line to make his ireland debut in friday's autumn nations cup opener against wales. the fly—half is one of three uncapped players to be added to andy farrell's line up. he replaces jack carty. he's brother of former england fly half freddie burns.

leinster wingerjames lowe will also make his debut and jacob stockdale has retained his place at full—back. the european qualification tournament for the 2021women's rugby world cup has been postponed. world rugby hope to rearrange the fixtures next year. meanwhile, the six nations have confirmed they've cancelled the outstanding three fixtures in the 2020 women's competition. england were the only country to complete all their games and won the grand slam. head over to the website to follow the latest on the ipl final between mumbai indians and delhi capitals. but that's all from me. now on bbc news, it's time for your questions answered. to answer your questions, i'm joined by dr elisabetta groppelli, a virologist and lecturer in global health at st george's university

of london and dr bharat pankhania, expert in communicable disease control & outbreak at the university of exeter medical school. welcome back to you both. a momentous week, i suspect. barbara lynn wants to say, will people who have had the virus still need the vaccine? does it behave the same way if they are antibodies already? the a nswer if they are antibodies already? the answer is at the moment we cannot assume that people who had the infection actually are protected from further infection. this is the reason if you have had a positive test for covid back in march and you are showing symptoms, you still have to isolate. this would support the fa ct to isolate. this would support the fact that actually anybody who can get the vaccine should do so. regardless if they had covid or not. however, this is where i need to use the words more data is needed. the

reality is that the trials are volu nteers reality is that the trials are volunteers specifically because they have not had covid. we need to wait and see to make decision. when you heard about this vaccine what was your reaction? it is always good news, but my first reaction is show me the data and tell me it works really well in the vulnerable groups. the people i want to immunise our in the vulnerable group. i immunise our in the vulnerable group. lam immunise our in the vulnerable group. i am keen to see the data for the vulnerable groups.” group. i am keen to see the data for the vulnerable groups. i saw you nodding at that one. is there any indication how long the immunity from the vaccine may be? again, this

is about a need for data. we are very excited with cautious optimism about the press release. we have not seen the data. we can say that the trial for the vaccine generated by pfizer it started back injuly, so there is some data about three or four months of immunity lasting. if it last longer, only time will tell. this is why a vaccine development usually takes a long time. and volu nteers usually takes a long time. and volunteers have been roped in for 12 or 18 months, so they can be monitored and assessed for how long their immune system responds. more data that is there or that is to come. a lot of people sending questions along the same lines. i've

got this question from gordon, i'm getting a lot of tweets along the same line which is having remembered drug, that a long—term effects will not be known until the future. our worries when things are rushed through this way? i want to reassure our viewers while we have got the vaccine in record time, it does not mean it has been rushed through. it isjust that a mean it has been rushed through. it is just that a lot of money, unlimited amount of money was made available to speed up the phase one and two and three trials. furthermore and mostly in important, we should actively monitor the people who have been immunised. we haveit people who have been immunised. we have it on the record that they receive the vaccine and then we follow them and also we take a representative sample of people who have been immunised and ask them pertinent questions to make sure that we have not got unknown unknown side effects. this is what we do

normally in any case, but as this is so new, we should also do this. and picking on that is philippa. is there a risk —— is philip. at the moment people to understand covid at the moment. long covid is intended the moment. long covid is intended the persistence of sids wood symptoms after the acute affection. it seems to be linked to proper infection. so the virus infecting a human being and then them having a response and how the interplay can be detrimental on a long—term to the human host. it has to be said many of the vaccines that are currently on trial do not cause an infection, they cannot cause an infection. they

are only carrying a small bit of the viral grade of the genome. the potential for infection and causing long covid is simply not there. having said that, it is absolutely crucial to monitor the recipients of the vaccine for the longer term because it might be that there are some side effects that come about only in the long term. cautious optimism, but being vigilant and doing what we would normally do with any other vaccine. robert says how will the vaccine be effective if the virus mutates multiple times? that can happen, coronavirus is don't necessarily do that, but part of the virus, despite court teen —— the spike protein is a little bit

different. the building blocks of the spike protein are a little bit different. the majority of this protein will be stable enough to be recognised by the antibodies, but some data will change. the most important thing is to continue monitoring and this way we keep reading the genome of the viruses out there and infecting people so we can do all monitoring and matching to make sure that the vaccine actually match the circulating strains. this is not new at all. we do this with all the viruses and vaccines. this is specifically behind the seasonal flu vaccine. the monitoring and matching need to be done. the most important thing this matching and monitoring is about tailoring. about fine tuning the vaccine. it does not mean that we

need to go back to square one. it means more data and more work. and we just have to deal with it. means more data and more work. and we just have to deal with itm means more data and more work. and we just have to deal with it. it is a lwa ys we just have to deal with it. it is always good to know that two experts are in agreement. i can see you nodding away. i've got this for brian. are there any medical conditions such as a weakened immune system that will prevent the vaccine from being given? no. this is not a live attenuated vaccine, we are not giving any live products. what we are giving if we are to use this vaccine by pfizer or the oxford one, they are both similar, is an instruction to the cells to make the protein to which we make a immunity against. therefore, i do not visualise a group of people who are excluded from receiving this

vaccine, which is good news. on a personal level, we have all gotten to know each other over the last few months. when you heard that news of a vaccine which was 90% effective, what was your reaction to that?” always ta ke what was your reaction to that?” always take a deep breath and say i don't believe all of it because as i said earlier, show me the vulnerable groups because with them for honourable groups, i bet you the efficacy is less than 90%. honourable groups, i bet you the efficacy is less than 9096. what about you ? efficacy is less than 9096. what about you? my first reaction was a cautious smile. a smile because it looked like good news, but cautious because as was said, we need to see the data. also because there are lots of different nuances and details that need to be addressed.

and time is a very important factor. i smiled. it is quite nice to smile when you see that. sum result is good news. it is nice to have light at the end of the tunnel. the first time for months we've seen that. i saw you both nodding in agreement. i have this one from jeff and herring -- is it have this one from jeff and herring —— is it possible to have the vaccine and be asymptomatic?m —— is it possible to have the vaccine and be asymptomatic? it is possible for a vaccine to only prevent an active severe disease. it is still worth taking the vaccine. this is where we really want to see the data from the pharmaceutical company. they have not really given us the detail about the symptoms and

the severity of the symptoms of the people who got covid when they were given the placebo or the virus. at the moment we need to wait to see how well the vaccine can perform in real life so we can understand what it can do and what it can't. it mightjust prevent it can do and what it can't. it might just prevent severe it can do and what it can't. it mightjust prevent severe symptoms and not infection, it might not be ideal, but we might have to deal with it. could the vaccine be used asa with it. could the vaccine be used as a treatment as well as a preventative measure? vaccines work by training and preparing our immune system to recognise the virus. this training in the case of the pfizer vaccine, takes about five weeks. three weeks and two doses. because

it requires weeks long training, vaccines are been tried preventing instead of cure. it might be that there are some situations where the vaccine can be use as treatment, but it is unlikely for this case. what percentage of the vaccine needs to be given to the population for it to be given to the population for it to be effective as a cure because some in the country don't believe or want a vaccine. were talking about herd immunity here. yes, the concept of herd immunity is what were talking about. what we want, for example, with measles we want 95% coverage because measles is highly infectious. in this case, in the coronavirus pandemic, what we want to aim for is make it difficult for

the virus to find people that it can in fact. so anything above 50, 60, 70% coverage in other words immunity, will be a very good results. remembered to get between 1670% of the world population immunised is a tall order. what we wa nt immunised is a tall order. what we want is between 60 and 70% and we will be in a better position to control it because the majority of the world population will be temporarily or momentarily immune. that raises other questions like this one. we have this from alabama. since pfizer can only produce 1.3 billion will other companies be needed as well? yes, and we have others to make other companies that are in the phase three trials right now. pfizer has got problems with

storage. it needs —80 celsius. so in afflue nt storage. it needs —80 celsius. so in affluent western countries we will probably end up using the pfizer or oxford vaccine. in other parts of the world i expect us to use the india or china vaccines as well. vaccine a in one place and vaccine be and cmd etc in other places. that will be enough to cover globally rather thanjust in will be enough to cover globally rather than just in one will be enough to cover globally rather thanjust in one place. should people be tested before getting the vaccine? no. as long as you are otherwise not having an intercurrent infection at the same time, we would not test. as a virologist what are the questions... if you had pfizer on the other end of the phone, what are the top three

questions you would want answered before you'd be happy to give someone this vaccine? the most important data would be about the details about the severity of disease and the age of the people who have actually received the vaccine in the trial. so we could understand exactly how well this vaccine works. the reality is we really need a vaccine that is going to work in the most vulnerable people and normally this means older age groups. the real question is, show me the data. my question would be give me the data about the severity of symptoms and a age. and a little bit more detail about the timing. some of the volunteers have

only received the vaccine less than two months ago. how strong is the data when it comes to the longevity? how long does the immunity last? the bottom line is any data they have, i would be very happy to see it so we can have the solid information and make a decision. an informed decision. the health secretary described this as an adult virus. a lot of people will say it is hard to get the herd immunity if you can't vaccinate children. it is not an aduu vaccinate children. it is not an adult virus, that is incorrect. this isa pandemic adult virus, that is incorrect. this is a pandemic strain. in other words, it will infect anyone anywhere. what matt hancock may be referring to is that it causes severe referring to is that it causes severe disease in adults and especially in the older age group as well as people with underlying

health conditions, which is invariably in affliction of people who get older. what is required is as long as we can cover the vulnerable people first as well as the front line health care workers and people like teachers in the front line from getting an infection, we would be doing very well. we are several months or a hero way to start immunising on a mass scale in any way. a year? you think it is a year? a lot of people are saying this could happen by the spring. we will start off with immunising the vulnerable groups, but for ordinary members of the public, it is going to take time. getting supplies and all of that stuff in gear is not going to be easy. finally, scientists, virologists are not given to overt

excitement, i know. should we be feeling happy today, happier today than we were two days ago?” feeling happy today, happier today than we were two days ago? i think so. like i said, i smiled. the reality is that science takes a lot of time and it is difficult. it requires troubleshooting and keeping yourself going even when it does not look good. when something happens and it seems to be good, it is really nice to take it on board. not overestimate it, but not to underestimate it either. a company like pfizer would not have shared this really good news unless they are sure that they are going to have the solid dater ready to be very quickly. —— the data to be shared. i think we have to be realistic and put things in context, a time

context. smile and be a little bit happier. science is delivering, give it time. it is nice to be able to smile again. both of you, thank you very much. good to see you again. more than a hundred thousand people who have recovered from covid—19 have donated their blood plasma — to help those suffering from the virus, as part of a trial. one woman, who was the first person in the country to receive the treatment, has now met the man whose donation helped her to recover. graham satchell reports. i was on 90% oxygen and it was touch—and—go whether i needed the ventilator, but there was a couple of times it was very, very close. ann was severely ill with covid—19 at the end

of april, in intensive care, when she was asked if she wanted to take part in a trial. and they said "this is plasma, coming from someone that's already had it, that in this plasma there's antibodies. and we want to trial it, to see will it can help people like you." if it can help people like you." staff at st thomas' hospital in london filmed the moment ann was given the plasma. she was the first person in the country to get it. kugan is an a&e charge nurse who's pretty sure he got covid—19 at the hospital where he works. it was kugan's plasma that was given to ann. kugan and ann are about to meet for the first time. hello. hi. it's brilliant to see your face, it's amazing. i've been looking so forward to it. 0h, me too. oh, my god. grateful, thankful — there is no words on earth that can describe the feelings.

it isjust a simple thing everyone can do, ann. you've made such a difference, and my family and my friends are so grateful for you, they really are. i do think that you helped save my life. more than 130,000 people who have had covid—19 have now donated their plasma, and just over 1,000 patients have been given a transfusion. it's part of a large trial in hospitals across the uk, co—ordinated by the nhs blood and transfusion service to see if convalescent plasma can be an effective treatment. absolutely amazing. i'm just so grateful that you people have given me the chance to meet him, and thank him. ending that report from graham

satchell. we are going to have the international news in the moment but first here's the weather. yesterday was a cloudy day but mild day. there was little sunshine around. today we summer sunshine around, especially in northern scotland, parts of england and wales but there has been some showers thrown in for good measure. the reason for the showers assessed by the front of that has been spreading northwards and eastwards across the country. this area of the pressure is bringing stronger winds and wet weather to parts of northern ireland and western scotland as it moves through tonight and into tomorrow. for the rest of the day, it stays mainly dry by the odd shower around. there will be some holes in the cloud to allow some sunshine, particularly across the north highlands. the cloud with increasing peace across the west. another pretty mild day as well with temperatures around 12 to 15 degrees. as we head over this evening and overnight, windy weather pushing into northern ireland and western scotland. it stays wet and windy

through the night, rainfall mounting up. elsewhere, we should see clear spells, variable cloud and chilly as well, temperatures are 68 degrees but milder out west where we have wind and rain. this is the picture for the middle part of the week, high pressure it was the east, and this area of the pressure is pretty wet and windy weather. it will push eastwards through the day. rainfall totals mounting up across the south—west and west of scotland, maybe minorflooding in places. very wet for wales, northern ireland, that rain pushing into western wales and western england. further east, mainly dry, quite windy, the odd shower around, maybe the odd sunny spell. 13, 14 degrees here but generally a degree or so cooler across the board. the wet and windy weather spreads across the country during wednesday night, clear through thursday morning, we see a ridge of high pressure before the next low pressure moves into the end of the week. the early rain clears for the east of england and then on thursday, with that ridge of high pressure, it could be the driest

and brightest day of the week, so good spells of sunshine around but thickening cloud and strengthening winds will developed out west ahead of this new weather system. a cooler day to come, nine to 12 degrees. wet and windy weather spreads from the west across the country on friday and it stays wet and windy as we head on into the start of the weekend. that is all from me, goodbye for now.

this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. ——i'm shaun ley. the headlines: gps are told to get ready to roll out the new covid vaccine from the start of next month. health secretary matt hancock says all nhs staff need to be prepared. i know that they will rise to this challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. no exam results in wales next year — instead a—levels, as—levels, and gcses will be replaced with a system based on teacher assessments. a damning report says leaders of the catholic church in england and wales "turned a blind eye" to sexual predators. and the fa chairman greg clarke has been forced to apologise for using "outdated" language to describe black footballers.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. gps have been asked to be on standby from the start of next month to offer the new covid vaccination if regulators say it's safe and effective. the government's already ordered enough doses of the vaccine for 20 million people. this as the number of weekly registered deaths of people with coronavirus in england and wales has exceeded 1000 for the first time sincejune. our health correspondent anna collinson has more. a possible coronavirus vaccine has been likened to a light at the end of a tunnel. approval is still needed and there are questions about how well it will work and how long it will last, but the uk may have its firstjabs by christmas.

the logisitics are complex, the uncertainties are real and the scale of the job is vast, but i know that the nhs, brilliantly assisted by the armed services, will be up to the task. i know that they will rise to this challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. early results for the first effective vaccine show it could prevent more than 90% of people from getting covid. with the main roll—out expected to take place early next year, the government has announced extra funding for gps, but many are still urging caution. this is going to take time. it's going to be required to be given to a far larger number of patients than the flu vaccine. secondly, it has significant transportation issues. it has been well reported that this vaccine needs to be transported at a very low temperature, much lower than your fridge—freezer at home, —80 degrees. that poses difficulties.

new research is warning a third of people may not accept a covid vaccination and the uk must do more to address fears. a small minority may not be suitable due to health reasons. i'm quite concerned that people like myself, who are allergic to certain medications, won't be able to have the covid—19 vaccine because i'm just not sure if i'm going to be allergic to it or not, which could lead