good afternoon to you, this is bbc news with me ben brown. our latest headlines. another breakthrough in the battle against coronavirus, a vaccine which is said to be nearly 95% effective. vaccine which is said to be nearly 9596 effective. i broke in to an ear to eargrin when 9596 effective. i broke in to an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers, it exceeded our best hopes. and it is an incredibly exciting moment for us as a company and for the world as we start to develop tools to fight the virus. the prime minister a self isolating after meeting an mp who has tested positive for coronavirus. boris johnson says he doesn't have any symptoms but he says the rules are the rules. hopes that families will be allowed

to visit residents in all care homes in england before christmas after successful trials for rapid testing of visitors. a warning from patients and staff at a hospital in an area with the highest covid rate in the uk. it is here. and this is very busy. i personally don't cope well ina busy. i personally don't cope well in a lockdown situation, i hate every minute of it, but i'd be the first to say restrictions are not tight enough because we're getting many patients coming in. and 19 million nhs dental treatments have been missed in england since the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in march according to figures seen by bbc news.

hello, good afternoon welcome to this bbc news we will bring you a downing street briefing led by matt hancock in half an hour's time but, first, a second coronavirus vaccine has been found to be highly effective at preventing covid—i9 infections. its makers moderna have described the discovery as a crucial milestone. the interim results suggest it is 9a.5% effective at stopping symptomatic infections. the uk government has not pre—ordered stocks of this vaccine yet but it is said to be in advanced talks to get hold of the vaccine once it passes the necessary safety stage. in other developments today, 6000 volunteers have been recruited across the united kingdom to test another potential coronavirus vaccine. a

vaccine has been created by a belgian company. 0n the day he hoped to reframe his premiership after days of infighting, borisjohnson is instead self isolating and downing street. we will have more in all of those shortly but first more on that news from the united states about the latest vaccine from a health correspondent dominic hughes. hot on the heels of last week's vaccine breakthrough, another promising candidate this time from a us company called moderna which has just announced the results of a trial involving 30,000 people. the company is reporting the vaccine is nearly 95% effective. company is reporting the vaccine is nearly 9596 effective. i broke into an earto eargrin nearly 9596 effective. i broke into an ear to ear grin when i heard the numbers. hopes and it is an exciting moment for us as a company, as the world, as we develop tools to fight the virus. it is a moment only because we realise we have a lot of work to do but it is a great moment. the moderna vaccine is one

of the number being tested around the world, there are now 48 in developing, iith in the final stage of testing. one of those is the pfizer vaccine announced last week with early results suggesting it can prevent more than 90% of infections. two others at the final stage are also being trialled in the uk, the university of oxford vaccine and another. and a third uk trial forjanssen which aims to recruit 6,000 participants. experts warn when it comes to a vaccine we need to keep options open. 0ne vaccine might not suit some parts of the population, one might be better for one age group, or one population diversity, it is important we develop the other vaccines because it is unlikely one size will fit all. one reason why the uk government has options to buy a total of 350 million doses of six different vaccines.

negotiations to buy a significant number of moderna there is said to be at an advanced stage. ministers say preparations for ruling out the pfizer vaccine are well under way. we may be able to roll it out before christmas, but almost certainly the vast bulk of the roll out, if the safety data proves it is safe and that is still not known, we still do not have a vaccine, but even if we do, it is likely the bulk of the roll—out will be in the new year. with alternate vaccines potentially coming on stream there will not be a choice over which we get, some may work better for different parts of the community. the committee has decided who will be the most prioritised and that starts with the elderly, people in care homes. but obviously if something comes up that a vaccine works differently in different age groups that may need to be modified. there are still many questions

around all the vaccines produced so far, how long will immunity last, how will they work in older age groups, will they stop people falling ill and from spreading the virus? but still what we are seeing with development is remarkable, a process that normally takes years compressed down to months. dominic hughes, bbc news. with me is our health correspondent nick triggle the moderna vaccine is exciting following hot on the heels of pfizer and biontech, and they are similar to the other vaccines being developed. yes, they take tiny fragments of the genetic code to train the human‘s immune system to fight the virus. it is, as you say, more positive news that science will help us find a way out of this

pandemic. the abraham vaccine in the early data suggest it is 9a.5% effective. there were over 30,000 people involved in trials and it has been 95 positive cases. the company said it is a remarkable finding. the uk government is hopeful, even though they haven't pre—ordered this vaccine like they have for the pfizer one, they're hopeful they will start getting doses in the spring. that is a reminder that whilst you are getting positive news on vaccines it isn't necessarily going to help us this winter, it is something for 2021 and we still face a lot of pressure this winter. and we talk about the race for a vaccine but there isn't one winner, is there? we kind of need them all because we need ultimately billions of doses. yes, i think there is 50 vaccines in human trials, about a dozen of them are at the final stage

so we dozen of them are at the final stage so we will be hearing more in the coming weeks about other vaccines that are being developed, one of the most advanced is one developed by astrazeneca and oxford university which the uk government has got a large preorder. but we will hear more about this, and 2021 promises to be hopeful in terms of vaccines. we have matt hancock talking to us from downing street very shortly and i'm sure he will talk about vaccines. what else do you expect them to talk about this afternoon? we'll hear about testing. the government has announced today there will be to make more mega labs opening up for its network, there is currently six and these to make new ones plus another to make in the pipeline the government says will help to double the number of tests that can be processed each day. there is growing interest in what is called a lateral flow test, quick and easy tests that can give people

and easy tests that can give people a virus result in less then one hour. the government is starting to use these to test visitors coming into ca re use these to test visitors coming into care homes. they are also using them for university students to get them for university students to get them back over. we've heard about them back over. we've heard about the mass testing in liverpool but one concern about these tests is they need high level of virus to spot positive cases and the concern is they could miss some and i've been talking to scientists today who have said there is some evidence they might only pick up half of cases. what they are warning as these shouldn't be treated as cast—iron guarantee you haven't got the virus. that, thank you very much indeed, our health correspondent. let's speak to peter 0penshaw, professor of experimental medicine at imperial college london. tell us your thoughts about this new vaccine data we've heard from the united states, the abraham vaccine, similarto united states, the abraham vaccine, similar to what we've been discussing to the pfizer one. —— the

moderna vaccine. this is hugely exciting and it is a great time to be working in this field. i'm sorry if it sounds almost predatory, i didn't mean it that way! i think it is wonderful to see science is able to respond to this pandemic in a way that may give us a root out of the terrible situation in which we find ourselves currently are. and i think that there is this big light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel is getting shorter all the time, but we are not out of it yet. it is so important that people do keep this virus locked down until these vaccines can actually do their work and give us a solution. well, i think we are excited the scientists are excited! that is a good thing. just tell us why do you think so much progress has been made so rapidly? is it because governments have invested so much money in these

various vaccine projects? is it because scientists around the world are cooperating so much? it is a mixture of these things. certainly putting a lot of funding into these vaccine studies has been essential in order to drive them forward. but, also, it is the wonderful, innovative technology that is being deployed. we've never had vaccines based on rna technology. and this is a huge vote of confidence in this novel way of making vaccines which appear to be really safe and a cce pta ble appear to be really safe and acceptable and effective in so many people, more than 70,000 people have beenin people, more than 70,000 people have been in these studies so far and the results of these studies set a very high barforfuture results of these studies set a very high bar for future vaccines results of these studies set a very high barforfuture vaccines in results of these studies set a very high bar for future vaccines in the pipeline. in that sense, in the mrna sense, the moderna vaccine from america is similar to the biontech pfizer one we've heard so much about in the last few days as well. it is

similar but there are important differences. in moderna there is 100 micrograms per dose but biontech is 30 micrograms so potentially using the biontech technology, assuming it is like for like, you can make three times as much vaccine using that technology as you can if you go with the moderna one. moderna have also said that there vaccine is fine at -20, said that there vaccine is fine at —20, for six months, and once it has thawed, you can keep it for up to 30 days, a whole month at 4 degrees in a conventional vaccine fridge. so, if that cannot be matched by biontech's vaccine, that gives moderna a significant advantage. and we we re moderna a significant advantage. and we were discussing earlier, it isn't a race because we will need most if not all of these various dozens of

vaccines that are under development, and, as you say, there are —— they are all different. yes, and we don't know whether the optimal vaccine regime will be to prime with one vaccine and boost with another. it could be that we need a combination of different vaccines as well as using different vaccines under different circumstances. it may be some of the vaccines will be stable at room temperature or even at elevated temperatures that you find in poorer parts of the world where it is important we are able to get vaccines out to the people who need them. so, ithink vaccines out to the people who need them. so, i think having the rich landscape of vaccines is very important. i think the other great thing about this rna vaccine technology is that it can potentially produce vaccines against any disease and the purification process and all the formulation processes ca n process and all the formulation processes can remain the same but we can now envisage the world in which we can open up facts and knowledge

you to a whole lot of diseases that would be hard to prevent so far. you to a whole lot of diseases that would be hard to prevent so fanm is an extraordinary science and a breakthrough in many ways. 0bviously, breakthrough in many ways. obviously, a lot of people watching you now want to know about a time frame. i know it is impossible for you to give that but in terms of how many months, if we start to see these vaccines being administered before christmas, how many more months before they can be administered in quite a widespread way across many different countries? i think it is so important to be realistic about this. i mean in the uk, ican realistic about this. i mean in the uk, i can imagine some people might start to be vaccinated this side of christmas if all goes well. and if no adverse effects show up. there have been quite a lot of safety studies already which look very promising but we must wait until we see the full data. but it'll take time to roll these vaccines out and i think we can't anticipate they will have a major effect during the

current winter season and we must keep the covid lockdown so we don't see such terrible effects in our hospitals and also prevent delayed effects that are beginning to become apparent as well. it is so important we don't lose our focus on trying to keep this under control. but i think with everything going well, we could expect that this is the last major season when we are going to see a lot of covid—19 around and when we are really going to be restricted in terms of what we can do. well, that is good news, i think everybody would welcome that, of course. on the note of which countries are getting these vaccines. 0bviously, countries like the us and the uk have already bought up large stocks. some people are saying what about the poorer countries? what about the developing world ? countries? what about the developing world? are they going to be able to get their hands on these stocks of

vaccines? it is absolutely critical that these vaccines are made available around the globe and particularly to people who can't afford, you know, the high price that no doubt will be charged in the developed countries. our own professor, robin shattuck, is committed at making vaccines at a price that is affordable around the globe and i think with improvements in our nra technology, making it more stable and making the doses so you can make a lot more doses for the same price, it should be able to make vaccines using this type of technique —— rna technology. even in the most resource for settings. he started off by saying how excited you were. did you ever really think, early on this year, we would be able to get to this stage we are at now with these reports, according to the data, of the very high effectiveness of these two vaccines so quickly?

no, ithink of these two vaccines so quickly? no, i think it is absolutely astonishing. i think in my lifetime in science, i have been used to vaccines taking, you know, between 12 and 18 years to develop and the acceleration has been absolutely astonishing. and i was expecting may be the first vaccines would only be may a0 or 50% effective. that was the sort of news we were expecting. but to hear of 90, 92, 9a, you know, almost 95% effective, this is beyond oui’ almost 95% effective, this is beyond our wildest expectations and it is hugely good news. great to talk to you about that good news, peter 0penshaw, professor of experimental medicine at imperial college london. the prime minister has said he is feeling "fit as a butcher's dog" on his first working day self—isolating in downing street.

boris johnson and several other tory mps have been told to isolate by nhs test and trace — after a meeting at downing street where one of the mps later tested positive for covid—19. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. this was last thursday morning, the prime minister had a breakfast meeting with some of his mps, including the man on the right, lee anderson, who the day after lost his sense of taste and later tested positive, and so the prime minister is holed up in his downing street flat until a week on thursday. hi, folks. the good news is nhs test and trace is working ever more efficiently. the bad news is that they've pinged me and i've got to self—isolate. it doesn't matter that we are all doing social distancing. it doesn't matter that i am fit as a butcher's dog, feel great, so many people do in my circumstances, and actually it doesn't matter that i have had the disease and i am bursting with antibodies. we've got to interrupt the spread of the disease. his neighbour's getting some fresh air though. the chancellor was in east london this morning.

like all other business and organisations over the past few months, he has been learning to do things differently. we're doing a lot of meetings online, the prime minister this morning, you've seen the video that he's put out, we are getting on with delivering people's priorities. the prime minister is not the only one doing a stint of domestic incarceration. 0ther mps at the same meeting left with a beaming picture with the boss, and later instructions to stay at home. so borisjohnson has been told to stay in here. on friday, his chief advisor dominic cummings was told to get out. after the volcanic disputes and dysfunction in number ten recently, today was meant to be about a reset. it still will be, i'm told, but it will be a remote one. this is frustrating for the prime minister, i understand that. it is important he self—isolates, it's important to say that we've all got to comply with the advice and guidance. the capacity of covid to cripple our plans strikes once again here at the heart of government.

after the comings and goings, the prime minister is now staying inside, when he had really hoped to be out and about sweeping up the mess of the last week. chris mason, bbc news at westminster. let's talk to helen catt, our political correspondent. helen, we heard a lot about a government to reset this week but it isa government to reset this week but it is a sort of self isolated reset. yes, a reset on mute, if you like and that is at the last week, we saw those really seismic shifts behind the scenes and behind that famous black door in downing street. this was the week that borisjohnson really wa nted was the week that borisjohnson really wanted to be out there, getting out and about and reinforcing his priorities for government. we know that number ten has planned a number of things over the coming 1a days. there was supposed to be a meeting today with conservative mps representing northern constituencies, designed to reinforce that commitment to spread opportunity beyond london and the

south—east. there is a plan to publish a ten point plan for a so—called green industrial revolution later. so we know those things are there but what they really wa nted things are there but what they really wanted was for boris johnson to be up there, fronting them front and centre and that of course is not going to be possible because he has to stay inside downing street for another ten days. ministers have been really quick to say the work can still go on, were you can use things like online meetings and zoom to do these things but it is not quite the same as having him at their front quite the same as having him at theirfront and quite the same as having him at their front and centre. he has said, as we were saying, their front and centre. he has said, as we were saying, rules are rules and it is a chance for him i supposed to show he is leading by example, doing what he is told by nhs test and trace and some people would say his recently departed chief adviser in downing street didn't follow the rules. it is absolutely a chance to say and he said in the video, it doesn't matter that i've had it, that i've been tested and found to have antibodies, none of this matters because the rules are the rules and if you are told to self—isolate, that is what

you have to do, so he is now confined within number ten, notjust to his flat, he is able to go into the office to do work, they consulted medical experts who have approved the arrangements because he is able to get from his flat to his office without meeting any staff members along the way. there have been questions asked about social distancing, about how covid safe downing street is, because it says it isa downing street is, because it says it is a safe workplace and questions have been raised about how you end up have been raised about how you end up with six conservative mps, the prime minister and two political aides self—isolating. this was put to the official spokesman of the prime minister earlier and he said it is safe, social distancing did happen but test and trace look at other factors and in this case, the length of the meeting, which was 35 minutes. they also asked about the snaps with the boss that you saw in the piece, quite a normal thing in normal times to happen in downing straw street pointed out they were standing side by side, not facing

each other but labour's chris bryant was asking why this meeting had to ta ke was asking why this meeting had to take place in person at all, why couldn't it happen online, as government guidance does say during lockdown that remote meeting should be used to avoid in—person meetings and they should only be absolutely necessary participants there. helen, thank you very much, at westminster. 19 million nhs dental treatments have been missed since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in march, according to figures seen by bbc news. the british dental association has warned the health secretary that the drop in patient numbers could result in hundreds of dentists across the uk going bust over the next year. and it's notjust the dentists who are suffering, as dan johnson reports. the pain started to become excruciating. like i would imagine acid being poured in the eye. listen to what toothache did to tim, and imagine dealing with that much pain. a filling that fell out, and a tooth that had shattered into pieces. there was two or three teeth next

to it that had all got together and formed one big infection that had gone right up that nerve and into the sinuses, and around to the top of the eye, and was basically like having somebody pushing in your eye really, really ha rd. he was suffering with an abscess, starting to go blind, and, despite many calls and even a visit to hospital, he couldn't see a dentist because he wasn't registered, and treatment was restricted. i got the sense that they were all closed, and that if you were suffering, the best thing you could do was go home and suffer. after eight months in pain, friends covered the cost of private treatment here, but other patients are still reluctantly being turned away or kept waiting. tim's story made me cry. i know it touched the hearts of my team. it's not what you are trained to do as a hygienist that manages a practice, my dentists staff feel the same, my staff feel the same. it is heartbreaking. we're are going to see rising gum disease, rising mouth cancer,

rising anxiety, rising mental health because people lose teeth, so it does not bode well for the future of dentistry. the wait to get in here only looks likely to get longer, because dentists are still restricted in the treatments they can offer and the number of patients they can see, so they are likely to suffer more, and dentists are wondering about their future prospects. and the question being asked is, what's the government's commitment here to the future of dentistry? the department of health and social care told us priority access should be given to urgent care, and vulnerable patients. it says the nhs is working with the profession to make more treatment available. but there are questions about the way dentists will be paid in future, and what that will mean for waiting lists. here, leaving an hour between patients and the cost of mountains of protective equipment, is putting this practice and hundreds more at risk. before covid—19, we used to see about 20 to 30 patients a day, and we are now barely seeing ten. we are just trying to help patients,

we are open until almost 11 o'clock at night and we want to carry on doing that, but we are going to need some help. tim is now on the mend, but other patients are still struggling to get seen. if some dentists do not survive, that will only get worse. i would not recommend having this if you are poor or marginalised in any way. the difference between nhs and private could mean the difference between suffering and not suffering. danjohnson, bbc news, brighton. the coronavirus infection rate in hull is still the highest in the country — the latest figure is 775 cases per 100,000 people. the leader of hull city council has written to the prime minister calling the situation a health emergency, and asking for more freedom to put local restrictions in place, including deciding whether schools might close. leanne brown has more.

more patients arriving, more patients dying. six people losing their lives in hull over the weekend. the boss here says a full lockdown is needed to control the virus. i'm not confident we are going to see a significant drop in covid cases in our hospitals much before february, march time. people are almost going about their normal lives. i think we need tighter restrictions. we saw how the total lockdown in wave one worked, and i think we need to be looking much more at that sort of approach as we approach the peak of wave two. will that include schools in hull? i'm afraid it would have to, and in other parts of the country. this morning, he has clarified that closing schools is one of the measures that may need to be considered. the infection rate in hull are still the highest in the country.

the infection rates in hull are still the highest in the country at 775 per 100,000. the national average is 215. at the moment, there are more than 180 people in hull's hospitals with covid—19 and since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 252 coronavirus—related deaths in the city. many teachers believe there is nothing like face—to—face interaction and would rather stay open if they could. keeping schools open for the learning, for the welfare, academically and pastorally, for pupils is key. we would obviously like to keep the school open with a small number of instances, but when you have got 40, 50 members of staff who are off in some of the inner city schools in the region and year groups of 200 rather than 70 or 80, that is a real concern. today, the leader of hull city council, stephen brady, has written a letter to the prime minister with a series of requests, including more support for local hospitals and the flexibility to impose restrictions on schools. he has described this as a critical moment for the city in which spirits

and resilience will not beat the virus. leanne brown, bbc news in hull. we are waiting for that coronavirus news briefing with the health secretary matt hancock, let's talk to our health correspondent nick triggle. we were hearing there about their very high number of cases in hull, in terms of the uk picture, we haven't had the latest figures but we would, with the lockdown, expect that to start falling quite dramatically. yes, we would expect to start seeing the impact of lockdown this week, because of the incubation period for the virus, there is a bit of a delay to any measures that are taken. now, what we we re measures that are taken. now, what we were seeing last week was around 23,000 new cases a day on average but then, on thursday, we saw quite a largejump. 33,000 new cases were reported. that was put down to an

increase in socialising ahead of the lockdown. the last few days, we have seen lockdown. the last few days, we have seen that number coming down, it was just shy of 25,000 cases yesterday and, of course, we need to get this number down if we are going to see the impact on hospitals lesson, because we know there are 15,000 patients with covid in hospitals across the uk. at the was 20,000, so there is a lot of pressure on hospitals and we are already seeing some hospitals having to cancel nonurgent surgery like hip and knee replacements, so people are watching these figures very closely this week. we might get today's figure in the press briefing. normally, it is announced that for pm but there has been a delay to the announcement for today's cases. i think they will be arriving in downing street in the next minute, so very briefly, we will hear from susan hopkins from nhs test and trace and we have these two new

mega— labs announced today which will help the speed of processing of tests. one of the arguments for lockdown it would buy us time to improve the performance of test and trays. the mega labs have been announced, two you labs opening in 2021 combined with two other labs, will help process coronavirus tests, which will not have an immediate impact on our ability to contain the virus but what is happening with tests, the test and trace, the tracing element, is that local councils are currently setting up their local teams to help the national testing team to form. it is said the tracing system has to reach 80% of people and get their

contacts, and then it has to reach 80% of those close contacts and asked them to isolate to be truly effective but ever since it started in the summer it's been falling below those levels, so there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try and improve that and we will hear about some of that soon. we will hear about some of that soon. well, that news briefing from downing street about to get under way with the health secretary matt hancock. also jonathan way with the health secretary matt hancock. alsojonathan van tam, the deputy chief medical as well, and susan hopkins who is the chief medical adviser of nhs test and trace, and here they are, so we were listening because they will be talking about the latest vaccine development, test and trace as well, and the latest number of cases. good afternoon and welcome to today's downing street coronavirus briefing. i'm joined by professor jonathan van tam, the deputy chief

medicalfor it, jonathan van tam, the deputy chief medical for it, and jonathan van tam, the deputy chief medicalfor it, and by doctor susan hopkins, the chief medical adviser to nhs test and trace. before we talk about testing and vaccines, i'd like to update you on the latest coronavirus data. the average number of new cases each day is now 25,329, up of new cases each day is now 25,329, up from 22,aa3 last week. today there are 1a,915 covert patients in hospital across the uk, compared to 13,000 a week ago and sadly yesterday 160 deaths were reported. this means that in the last week we've seen an this means that in the last week we've seen an average this means that in the last week we've seen an average of a13 deaths, up we've seen an average of a13 deaths, up from 332 a day a week ago. my profound sympathies are with eve ryo ne profound sympathies are with everyone who has lost a loved one

throughout this pandemic. and these numbers make painfully clear that this virus remains a potent threat. that threat isn't just to the this virus remains a potent threat. that threat isn'tjust to the oldest and most vulnerable but to anyone of any age and of any background, and we've already seen the serious impact that long covid can have on pupils quality—of—life, even the fit and young. symptoms like fatigue and breathlessness, muscle pain and neurological problems, long after they've first had the virus. and we know that long covid affects thousands of people, many thousands of people. and we have already opened long covid clinics in many parts of the country, and i am very pleased to be able to confirm that the nhs will have a network of a0 long covid clinics right across england in place by the end of the

month. they will bring together doctors, nurses, therapists and other nhs staff, like physios, to help those suffering with the long—term effects of coronavirus. long covid shows that this virus can strike us all, and we must all do our bit to strike back by following the rules and denying the virus the connections it needs to spread. i know this hasn't been easy. and it has meant celebrating diwali or commemorating the fallen in ways that have been different this year to what we might normally do. and i wa nt to to what we might normally do. and i want to say thank you to everyone for their patients. we must persevere and get this virus under control. coronavirus is not a short—term problem that can easily be fixed. we must focus on the long term solution is underpinned by the

best possible science that can see us best possible science that can see us through this crisis and also lay firm foundations for the future. this of course includes our ability to test at scale. we are constantly improving our response to bring the confidence that high quality testing can provide. we have already built the largest coronavirus testing capacity in europe, up from 2000 tests a day in march to our current capacity of more than half a million. but we will not rest because testing capacity helps keep people safe and can help us get things back more like normal life. today i am delighted we can announce two new megala bs today i am delighted we can announce two new megalabs opening early in the new year. they will add another 600,000 capacity to our daily capacity. that doubles the current capacity. that doubles the current capacity. they were also create a000

jobs and, crucially, they will represent a permanent part of the uk's new diagnostics industry. we didn't enter this crisis with a meijer diagnostics industry and commerce, together, we have built one. both to help beat the virus, of course, by testing more people and returning results more quickly and to give our country a permanent defence that we might need for any future epidemic. and to improve our ca re future epidemic. and to improve our care for so many other diseases, like heart disease or cancer, or the flu. and i am absolutely determined that we must have a massive diagnostics capacity not just that we must have a massive diagnostics capacity notjust for this pandemic but long into the future. more capacity also speeds up turnaround times. but speeding up these turnaround times isn'tjust about the test. it's also about the

logistics. so i want to take just one moment to thank the royal mail, who, from this weekend, will empty some of their postboxes seven days a week to speed up home testing. it is a big team effort and i'm very grateful to our posties for playing their part in helping keep people safe. this expansion of testing matters because it helps to protect people and i want to touch on some of the reasons why it matters. it means we can test the most vulnerable and those who care for the most vulnerable and you can test them more frequently. 0ver the most vulnerable and you can test them more frequently. over the last week, for instance, we've delivered more than 3 million tests to nhs staff to begin their regular biweekly testing. and today i know so biweekly testing. and today i know so many people have been relieved to hear that we've started a pilot for testing visitors and care homes, to use tests to allow people to visit loved ones in care homes in a way

that keeps them safe. and brings back some of those magical moments of social contact. 0ur expansion of testing also means we can rule out mass testing further. we are making progress in the citywide testing of liverpool and we are rolling out this localised approach to other areas. 83 local authorities have signed up to receive regular batches of these new lateral flow tests which can allow for results in minutes. this is an important step and it combines the local insight of the brilliant directors of public health right across the country with the strong national infrastructure of nhs test on trays, combining to keep our communities safe. —— test and trace. and vaccines, whilst we don't have one yet, we can now have hope. you may have heard the two promising pieces of news from earlier today. first, janssen's

phase three clinical trials are beginning today in 17 sites across the country, including southampton, dundee, cardiff and belfast. it is the third vaccine to enter clinical trials here and, should the trials come good, and that is by no means certain, if it can be proved to be safe and effective, we have 30 million doses on order by the middle of next year. finally, you will no doubt have seen the excellent news that moderna have announced news from their preliminary trial data suggesting that there vaccine has an effectiveness of 9a.5%. this is another encouraging step forward. although i stress that this is preliminary, the safety data is limited, and their production facilities are not yet at scale, should this latest vaccine be

approved, the doses would be available from spring next year. and ican available from spring next year. and i can announce that we have today secured an initial agreement for 5 million doses of the moderna vaccine. this is a similar irony —— rna vaccine from pfizer and biontech, of which we have ordered a0 million doses, and it should come on stream before the end of this year. across diagnostics and vaccines, great advancements are coming to the rescue and whilst there is much uncertainty we can see there is much uncertainty we can see the candle of hope and we must do all that we can to nurture its flame. but we are not there yet. until the science can make us safe, we must remain vigilant and keep following the rules that we know can keep this virus under control. i am now going to hand over to doctor

hopkins to see more about our work on mass testing. thank you. testing is critically important in fighting the coronavirus because it allows us to find positive cases, trace their contacts and break the chains of transmission. from the outset we've tested people with symptoms in laboratories and you have heard from the secretary of state how we are ramping up the laboratory capacity. however, alongside this, we've been working with our academic partners to validate innovative point—of—care tests that will rapidly speed up the process to find people with infectious virus. we have assessed these tests, called lateral flow devices, rigorously with public health england and oxford university and have moved four into field evaluations to date. these are tests for the antigen, not antibody, they determine whether you are infectious and need to isolate. in liverpool

refused one of these tests to offer rapid testing to individuals without symptoms. this test has excellent a ccu ra cy symptoms. this test has excellent accuracy revealing the majority of cases who have infectious virus right now today and with very low false positive, less than five per 1000. these tests can be read in 20-30 1000. these tests can be read in 20—30 minutes after starting the analysis process and people get their assault on the same day and their assault on the same day and the majority much faster, within 12 hours. which means people can isolate quickly, and ensure they don't pass the infection to others. the beauty of this test is that we find we can find people who are not symptomatic. meaning we can stop transmissions before they potentially occur. and we are especially grateful to the people of liverpool and the directors of public health, local government and academic partners who have worked so ha rd to academic partners who have worked so hard to get thousands of people

tested. 0ver hard to get thousands of people tested. over the last ten days with military support we have tested almost 100,000 people in the liverpool testing sites with the lateral flow devices and found more than 700 people who would otherwise had not been detected. as you've heard we're looking to replicate this over the country and working with directors of public health who can target the tests for their own population, understanding the population, understanding the population who are most at need of testing. we are also running evaluations in schools and and are e to test university students prior to going home at to test university stu d e nts going home at to test university students prior to going home these tests with health care workers in homes and i envisage this will help us homes and i envisage this will help us support people visiting homes and you will have heard we are using these tests with health care workers and homes and i envisage this will help us support people visiting a negative test means you are unlikely to be infectious at that moment, hands, face, space in case you are

incubating the virus, and to stop other people transmitting the virus too. i will show you an animation and talk through it works. these tests show that you take a sample swa b tests show that you take a sample swab from a nose or throat and the swa b swab from a nose or throat and the swab is then mixed in a tube with some buffer solution. this releases and breaks up the virus to allow it to be tested in the test. we then dropa to be tested in the test. we then drop a couple of drops onto the lateral flow device that looks a bit like this. and, then, the solution containing the fragments of a virus sta rts containing the fragments of a virus starts to move along the absorbent strip. it hits an area that has some labelled antibodies, and these are the antibodies that allow you to detect whether the test is working and whether the test is positive. and so theyjoin together and keep moving along the strip. 0nce and so theyjoin together and keep moving along the strip. once this

occurs, those with virus particles bind strongly to the fragments. and, then, they attach to the test zone. the remainder of those virus labelled antibodies keep moving along and keep going along the absorbent strip to what is called the control zone. and the control zone is very important because it allows us to determine whether the test works or not. after about five minutes, a coloured band will appear in the control zone. this shows the testis in the control zone. this shows the test is working and therefore we can now read whether the virus is present or not. a coloured band at the virus test zone shows the test is positive and the virus is are present. it usually takes between ten and 30 minutes to read the test and in the cases in liverpool, we wait a full 30 minutes to say the testis wait a full 30 minutes to say the test is negative. thank you very

much indeed. we will now take some questions from the public and then we will take questions from the media. so the first is bethany from wandsworth. the current advice on the priority list for vaccines focuses on age. all those that are shielding but are not over 65, will they be prioritised to have the vaccine? if they be prioritised to have the vaccine ? if not, they be prioritised to have the vaccine? if not, do you expect all of those yielding to continue to shield until they have access to a vaccine? —— those shielding. this could be six months or longer. thank you very much, bethany, this is an incredibly important question and i understand how important the prioritisation of any vaccine will be. we have been doing an awful lot of work on it and there is a statutory body, an official body, that advises me, as health secretary, as to what the right clinical priority should be. it is thejoint committee clinical priority should be. it is the joint committee on vaccinations and immunisations, and it is they who have set out the interim

prioritisation based on what we know already of the two leading vaccines, the visor vaccine and the astrazeneca vaccine, but they will update that when they see the final data —— pfizer vaccine. they make this clinicaljudgment data —— pfizer vaccine. they make this clinical judgment and data —— pfizer vaccine. they make this clinicaljudgment and they also talk to jonathan van this clinicaljudgment and they also talk tojonathan van tam about this clinicaljudgment and they also talk to jonathan van tam about what thisjudgment talk to jonathan van tam about what this judgment might be and talk to jonathan van tam about what thisjudgment might be and is clinicaljudgment does thisjudgment might be and is clinical judgment does take thisjudgment might be and is clinicaljudgment does take into account those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, to make sure that they get the appropriate vaccination according to their risk level. maybe you could set out in more detail whether it is up to on this end, i should stress, this interim guidance from the formal joint committee. thanks, secretary of state. the guidance is indeed interim, provisional, and the reason for that is that we do not yet have the data on the vaccines that will be available to us and authorised by

the mhra, and we can't make those final decisions until it is understood if the vaccines are suitable for all groups. i am hoping so suitable for all groups. i am hoping so but that is a decision that has to be made in the future. it is very clear that the clinically extremely vulnerable are on the jcvi priority list and many of them will already be subsumed within the priority order on the provisional list by virtue of age or by virtue of having chronic underlying conditions, right down to the age of 18, so, from that perspective, i do expect there to be cove rage of perspective, i do expect there to be coverage of the clinically extremely vulnerable. thank you. the next question is from leicester. diviya asks...

thank you, another excellent and important question. the answer is that it important question. the answer is thatitis important question. the answer is that it is too early for us to know what the number of cases will be as we come to the end of the current lockdown. i might ask susan to add a few more details, but what i would say is that, at the moment, most of the tests that we are getting back and most of the positive cases are from around the time when the lockdown came in, and so we are yet to see in the data, and it is too early to expect to see in the data, the impact of the second lockdown, but we absolutely hope to be able to replace the national lockdown with a tiered system similar to what we had before, but we are, of course, are assessing that and assessing how we can make sure that will be effective. susan. absolutely, the

keyissue effective. susan. absolutely, the key issue for us is making sure that cases start to fall and we expect, if the lockdown is working and we are all doing the best we can to have reduced or no social contact with other people, that we will start to see cases decline over the next week. we expect it will be longer to see hospital admissions, another week or so, but i think as long as we start seeing cases decline, we can start making a judgment about what are the right decisions that we make and what are the opening up decisions that happen on december the 2nd. thanks, susan and just to stress, diviya, i know that leicester has been in lockdown measures for an awfully long time. they are important to keep this under control, but the best thing that everybody can do is to follow the rules and to try to limit their transmission of the virus, and if you are contacted by nhs test entries, it is so important that you do self—isolate, because that will

help to control the spread of the virus. the next question is from fergus walsh of the bbc. a question to matt hancock, you say you have ordered 5 million doses of the moderna vaccine, enough to immunise 2.5 million people. do you regret not being able to buy any more? and, first, to professor van tam, are you a bit more confident today, even more confident than a week ago, that covid vaccines will work? thank you. iam covid vaccines will work? thank you. i am delighted that we have now been able to expand our portfolio of vaccines from six to seven. the moderna vaccine is based on a similar platform to the biontech—pfizer vaccine and we have a0 million of those that are on order, should it work, as we

co nsta ntly order, should it work, as we constantly stress, neither of these vaccines is approved, we haven't seen vaccines is approved, we haven't seen the full safety data, we can't be sure. but i pay tribute to the vaccines task force, who have done this buying, even including the —— concluding the moderna deal today, i pay tribute to alok sharma, who has worked incredibly hard getting this over the line, including today and has done a greatjob, so it is really good news that we have got some of the moderna vaccine. 0n whether. .. 0n some of the moderna vaccine. 0n whether... 0n the number, the thing is that the moderna vaccine doesn't come on stream until the spring, and so come on stream until the spring, and soiam come on stream until the spring, and so i amjust come on stream until the spring, and so i am just really pleased that we have got those early vaccines that will be available early and we already have the orders of those in. yes, i will follow on from the second question first and say the vaccines task force, we have had to consider a whole range of vaccines. first of all in terms of modality,

or mode of action, the type of vaccine, to make sure that we spread oui’ vaccine, to make sure that we spread our bets over the different types that are coming forwards, because, when you start that process, you have no assurance that anything is going to work. secondly, you have to temper that against the likely quantities available and then you have to temper that against the likely timings of the availability of those quantities. accepting that all of that is mired in how difficult it will or will not be for individual manufacturers to make these at huge scale over the next months and years. so all of that has to be factored in and that is why we have ended up committing to 350 million doses across multiple targets. but your first question, do i feel more encouraged in relation to another messenger rna vaccine showing that it is making covid—19

potentially, in the future, a vaccine preventable disease ? absolutely so. it is brilliant news, absolutely brilliant. it is the second penalty now, that has also gone into the back of the net so we are starting to feel in a better position. thank you very much for cheering us all up. the next question is from thomas moore at sky. mister hancock, the modernity vaccine was always one of the frontrunners, why wasn't it part of the uk stockpile from the very start —— moderna vaccine? why onlyjoin the queue know when you have only managed to procure enough to protect 2.5 million people? professor van tam, does the second penalty, as you describe it, give you confidence that we will get a very good result from the oxford vaccine, which is also due to report imminently?”

will take the first and then hand to you, if that is ok. the thing is, thomas, there isn't as stockpile. this vaccine hasn't yet been manufactured and, here in europe, the first availability will be in the first availability will be in the spring and that means that, obviously, we have been... it is critical that we have been buying the first vaccines that will be available and, if you take the pfizer vaccine, plus the astrazeneca agreements, then, between them, we have over 100 million doses on order. it is also good, though, to have some of these other vaccines, hence we spread the portfolio. so thatis hence we spread the portfolio. so that is why we have taken the approach that we have, to make sure that we have a good spread of the vaccines and, as today's news demonstrates, we keep buying. this process is in togo, we keep buying. ijust want process is in togo, we keep buying. i just want to correct you, you said

we have 350 million —— this process isn't over. we now have 355 million. over to you. your question was specifically about the astrazeneca, oxford, vaccine. and whether any vaccine is going to work is simply unknowable until the data has been looked at. and nobody has looked at the data at this point in time. it is the same for all of the vaccine still in phase three that have not read out. nevertheless, pretty much all of the vaccines around the world that are in development are targeting the coronavirus spike protein, as the biontech—pfizer vaccine has done, as the moderna vaccine has done, as the moderna vaccine has done, as the moderna vaccine has done. this really does begin to show us that the spike protein is a completely plausible and effective target for vaccines to

be working against. and, you know, when we started this journey back in february, march, we didn't even know that, so, yes, we are feeling in a happier place than we were. but do we know the data? no, we don't. we are not there yet. catherinejones from channel five. secretary of state, thank you. you said in response to diviya's question, the end of the england lock down, that it was too early to see in the data whether additional measures would be needed, but the sage subgroup has reported to you that england are returning tojust three reported to you that england are returning to just three tiers on december the r value rising again and would damage any potential decline in numbers you do begin to see. with hospitals already under intense pressure, this could put strain on them: back utterly to come mid decemberso! strain on them: back utterly to come mid december so i am wondering what

measures mid december you are arguing for within government on behalf of the nhs and in in order to prevent difficult winter for them. that is not what sage exactly said, it is worth going to read their actual advice, it is not about whether it is a tiered system, it is about which measures are in each tier, but maybe susan hopkins would be in tier, but maybe susan hopkins would beina tier, but maybe susan hopkins would be in a better place to set out the scientific advice on this.|j be in a better place to set out the scientific advice on this. i think we have recognised that the tiering of the country has had a different effect in each area. tier 3 and especially tier 3 plus in the north has had an effect in reducing the numbers of cases in the north—west and we could see the northwest number of cases declining now. tier 2 seems to hold in some areas well and not in others, so it depends on how fast transmissions are occurring and how well the individuals in the population are taking that advice

in. we see very little effect from tier1 and in. we see very little effect from tier 1 and when in. we see very little effect from tier1 and when we look at what tiers will be there in the future, we will have to think about strengthening them in order to get us strengthening them in order to get us through the winter months until the vaccine is available for everyone. thank you. gordon raynerfrom the telegraph. thank you, secretary of state. can i just telegraph. thank you, secretary of state. can ijust asked, the prime minister has told us he is bursting with antibodies having had coronavirus and yet he is still having to self—isolate for ia days. we having to self—isolate for 1a days. we know the government is considering bringing in a five day quarantine period now, if you have a test after five days, is it not time to rethink the whole policy of self isolating for 1a days? and secondly you said earlier today that you can't rule out mandatory vaccinations. i know you are not planning it. have you had discussions

jobs not being able to go to those jobs, such as nursing, if they haven't had a vaccine once one becomes available? we haven't had any of those discussions. 0n the first question, of course, we always keep under review the clinical advice of how we can keep this virus under control whilst minimising the impact on peoples lives. and, you know, the prime minister going into self isolation is an absolutely clear demonstration that everybody, no matter who you are, needs to follow the rules. if you are asked by nhs test and traced to self—isolate, it is absolutely vital you do. and the prime minister is demonstrating that through his personal leadership and following those rules. of course we keep those things under review but we are not ata things under review but we are not at a stage to be able to make any changes yet. the independent.

secretary of state, thank you very much. throughout the pandemic the independent has spoken to front line nhs staff, many of them report being exhausted, broken. now with cases rising they are facing a bleak winter with widespread staff shortages and morale at rock bottom. over the past ten years most have suffered real terms pay cuts and you we re suffered real terms pay cuts and you were filmed clapping for carers earlier in the year so can you commit to data giving nhs staff a meaningful above inflation pay rise to help boost recruitment and most of all to make patients safer on wards? thank you. as you know, we have an independent pay review process. we have concluded a three—year agreement with nurses. in fa ct three—year agreement with nurses. in fact we've just concluded a long—term agreement with junior doctors as well. although you tempt

me, i'm not going to prejudge the outcomes of the independent pay review process. finally, pulse magazine. during the election you acknowledged we needed 6000 new gps but since then the number of full—time equivalent fully trained gps has decreased, gps are doing more consultations there ever and carrying out their biggest flu vaccine. can you say you will reduce their workload to free up time and for them to carry out the programme whilst ensuring patients can access the urgent care they need? this is an incredibly important question and i'm going to askjonathan van tam to comment as part of his vaccine roll—out and is clinical background. what i would say to every gp is how grateful i am for the work you are doing and your practice, everybody in primary care, both on the flu

vaccine right now being rolled out in record numbers and we've had a record uptake, a ten percentage point increase on the normal uptake of flu vaccines which is really good news and of course on the normal pressures of ca re. news and of course on the normal pressures of care. i am very glad a much bigger proportion of primary ca re much bigger proportion of primary care is done over the phone or via video which makes life easier for gps and for patients, and that has been a very positive response. that doesn't lift the whole burden although it makes access easier. and, of course, we have, hopefully — hopefully! — a covid vaccination programme ready to go, and i've asked the nhs to be ready to roll it out from the 1st of december, the first possible date it could be ready, that isn't my expectation at all but we need to be ready from then because that is theoretically

then because that is theoretically the earliest this could possibly be. the bulk of the roll—out is likely to be in the new year, if a vaccine, one of the two early vaccines come through. that is the pfizer and the astrazeneca vaccine, and we must be ready and i want to thank in advance gps for all the work that i know they are doing now and that there will be even more of this winter to keep people safe. 0n will be even more of this winter to keep people safe. on a clinical aspect if i could hand over to jvt. yes. i mean, clearly, the covid vaccine programme, as soon as we have vaccine vaccines scale will be the most important thing the nhs has done for a very long while. in primary care are front and centre stage in all of the immunisation programme is the nhs has ever delivered. and will continue to be

so. delivered. and will continue to be so. i do understand the workload pressures. but i do also think that it will be incumbent upon every one of us to put in extraordinary efforts to make this programme move as fast as we can, consistent with the available supplies, and with the highest uptake we can possibly manage. this is a big opportunity to change the way the pandemic will roll out over 2021. it isn't going to produce an overnight result. it won't affect the second wave we are in. but it could very dramatically change what the late spring and summer change what the late spring and summerstart to change what the late spring and summer start to look like. the precise bounds on that are unknown but that is how big the prize is and, therefore, it is really important everyone pushes so hard on this. notjust the important everyone pushes so hard on this. not just the workforce important everyone pushes so hard on this. notjust the workforce but also the public, in terms of coming

forward for the vaccine. as i said that the other press conference, being ready when you are called. thank you very much, jvt. one more thing because it is such an important subject. i know the pressure is the covid vaccine roll—out will put on to people across the nhs. it isn'tjust gps, although gps and the teams around primary care, the primary care nurses and the pharmacists will play an important role, it is right across the nhs. there will be work to do to get this vaccine rolled out. and i also know there is a number of uncertainties which make planning harder. it doesn't make planning harder. it doesn't make planning impossible. so it is critical we get all that lined up so we are ready to go from the start of december. and i want to thank in advance everybody who is involved in the nhs and more broadly in the

roll—out of the vaccine. it'll be a big job. thanks very much indeed to everybody this ends the downing street coronavirus daily briefing. thank you. there we are, the latest coronavirus briefing, some very interesting information coming out of that so let's just give you a quick recap of what was said in downing street by the health secretary. matt hancock announced that the nhs would have a0 new clinics dedicated to treating long covid in place by the end of the month. the health secretary also announced that the governmentt has secured an initial deal for five million doses of the moderna vaccine which the company today announced is proving to be nearly 95% effective against covid—19. mr hancock also said that the two new megalabs — one in england and one in scotland — will increase testing capacity in the uk by 600,000 a day.

these labs will open in 2021. let's get the thoughts of nick triggle, our health correspondent, who was watching and listening to that briefing. a lot of people and scientists are excited by the news of the new vaccines, the pfizer biontech vaccine and now the moderna vaccine from the united states, it is 9a.5% effective. matt hancock saying they'd got 5 million doses although he was being asked by journalists isn't that many, that is for 2.5 million people so why haven't the government bought up stocks of their earlier on. indeed. the government has pre—ordered six different vaccines. as they were saying, they wanted to spread their bets across the different types of vaccines being developed so last week's announcement about the pfizer

biontech vaccine, the uk had already secured enough for 20 million people but the moderna vaccine, which the early results have been announced today, the government had no deal with that company about the vaccine but i understand in recent weeks they had been in talks with them which is why they were able to conclude an initial deal for 5 million doses. as you say, people need to make doses for a course of treatment of this vaccine. that leaves enough to vaccinate a third of the uk population which is why there is lots of interest in the other vaccines in development. there isa other vaccines in development. there is a dozen in the final stages. 0n the one the uk government has put most of its bet on is the oxford university astrazeneca vaccine. they've pre—ordered 100 million doses of ad. in the coming weeks we will be watching for more vaccine yea rs. will be watching for more vaccine years. it's been described as betting on the horses. you have to

spread your betting, haven't you? to use another sporting analogy, jonathan van tan was saying if you think of it as a penalty shoot out, we've had two mac penalties in terms of pfizer, biontech, and now moderna, and they've both gone into the back of the net, so it is very good news! it is but a couple of words of caution — these vaccines have to get through the regulatory process. we expect to hear about that in the next couple of weeks. and we don't know how long the immunity lasts. 0r and we don't know how long the immunity lasts. or what effect they have on curbing infection in older age groups who are most susceptible to the serious disease. saying that we've had very positive news, we'd been waiting so long, we had so much negative news so this is really pleasing. and there is growing optimism signs will help us find a way out of this pandemic. thank you very much indeed, nick. we'll talk more about the exciting scientific

news now. joining us now is dr david nabarro, who focuses on the global impact of the virus for the world health organization. very glad you are able to join us, thank you for your time, i know you are very busy. give us your thoughts on the latest vaccine is from the united states and the moderna results, 9a.5% effectiveness. united states and the moderna results, 9a.596 effectiveness. this isa results, 9a.596 effectiveness. this is a really good result! 9a% effectiveness for a new vaccine is stunning. and, as you said in the report it says it builds on the results with the pfizer vaccine that was described last week. the advantage of the new vaccine from moderna is that it seems to be viable at a lower temperature. so, you can store it at —20, which is a normal freezer, and it lasts you can store it at —20, which is a normalfreezer, and it lasts for quite a long time in a fridge. this will make life easier for those administering it. ithink will make life easier for those administering it. i think a couple of that i want to say — it is

exciting all this news about vaccines, new testing capacity being introduced, and all the other great technologies that are coming on board. but we still have got some time to go, everybody, before the vaccines will make a dent on the nature of the pandemic. in europe we are still in a bit of a lockdown right now. and there is nervousness, understandably, that when the lockdown is released, there will be another spike. and people will once again be in difficulty. so, please, keep up the precautions, please continue to maintain physical distancing, masking, keeping yourself isolated when you are sick, doing lots of good hygiene and looking after the people who are particularly at risk. that matters. secondly, let's just all so particularly at risk. that matters. secondly, let'sjust all so please try to make certain that local

authorities and local organisations can work together in an integrated way in dealing with spikes and surges when they happen. we can't afford to take our eye off this issue. and i want everybody to be focused on it, particularly as we're coming up to christmas and there will be more moving as we get closer to the event. yes, very good words of advice and caution, thank you for those. just in terms of the vaccines because as well as the two we have had the results of, there are lots of others in development, including the oxford astrazeneca ones are how important is that there are lots of different vaccines that might do lots of different things? well, we are always finding out new things about this virus. one of these things we are learning is this phenomenon called long covid, discussed in the press conference i heard just now and we are also finding out things about what kind of immunity you get after infection.

i personally think that different vaccines will give us different degrees of immunity. perhaps some will be more effective than older people, some more effective in the young, and so let's continue with the necessary research. we have ten plus vaccine candidates towards the end of their clinical trials, and then let's see which ones are going to be the most useful and what kind of conditions they need for storage and administration. remember, it is approximately 7.7 billion people in our world. an awful lot of those people, i hope, will want to be vaccinated, it will be an absolutely massive global operation. we will need all of the vaccine manufacturers working together and all of the countries of the world thinking through how they are going to go about this in the next year or more, because it won't all be done in one year. this has got to be done, the last thing we want is for this virus to continue roaring its

way around the world causing such high levels of disability and death in so many places. and how concerned are you, and the world health organisation, that some of the countries around the world which are poorer and developing may not be able to get their hands on enough stocks of the vaccines when they do ultimately come through? there has been talk that the richer nations, the united states, the uk, are already pre—ordering huge stocks, costing many, many millions of pounds and dollars and there is a kind of vaccine nationalism, where the richer countries want to get their hands on as much as possible, understandably, but what will be the situation for the poorer countries around the world ? situation for the poorer countries around the world? well, there is something remarkable happening in this issue. there is a thing called the covax facility, set up internationally and set —— supported by lots of different countries, and

that means they are able to do this pooled purchase. you refer to it as hedging your bets. well, this has now been done internationally through a combination of the world health organisation, the global alliance on vaccines and immunisation, the centre for pandemic preparedness and number of other groups. there is about $5 billion being put into covax, with some really decent money from the uk, so we have actually got the system in place that should make it less necessary for poor countries to feel that they are going to be at the bottom of the queue, because this facility really does mean that poor countries as well as rich countries will be able to benefit. it is pretty remarkable. it is indeed. and just tell us, all of this began at the beginning of the year, of course. we are now in november and we are getting these

early results from the front runner vaccines, if you like, moderna, pfizer and so on. are you surprised by the speed of the science?” pfizer and so on. are you surprised by the speed of the science? i am joyful, you know? here is what has been happening in trying to deal with this pandemic. we have had quite an unusual lack of cooperation between some major countries and outfits like the one i am associated with, the world health organisation, have had a bit of a kicking. i mean, when you are doing this kind of global work, you have to work with what you have got inside the environment which the member states, as we call them, the countries give us and the politics have not been easy, so, on the other hand, we have had remarkable scientific cooperation between the scientists themselves and between the companies, so it is something really to rejoice about. it might be a bit down in the mouth about the politics, but the science is brilliant and i think it is

something for everybody in the world to feel really good and warm about. it is remarkable. and just a few seconds, david, it is remarkable, what has the key being? is it the massive investment from governments or the cross—fertilisation of international scientists? scientists, it is people, it all comes down to people. every single one of us who is working on this, we are only in it for one thing and thatis are only in it for one thing and that is to try to do the best we possibly can for the people of the world. we do not get involved in the politics and it is great to see the scientists and the businesses and these hundreds of thousands of brilliant health workers we have been talking about on the programme just now all working together for the common good. it really makes me feel brilliant, good about humanity. it is very good to talk to you and to hear your excitement, and we share it. thank you so much, professor for global health at imperial college london. we are

going to talk more about the vaccine and questions from you about it, your questions answered. and we are focusing today on the question of vaccines with that exciting news from the united states. let's introduce you to the infectious disease specialist from the university of oxford, peter drobak. loads of questions coming in about the moderna vaccine unveiled today and the pfizer one we heard about the other day. this is from stephen clarke in kidderminster. what is the difference between a recovery from covid with a small chance of reinfection and a vaccine thatis chance of reinfection and a vaccine that is around 95% effective? chance of reinfection and a vaccine that is around 9596 effective? there are two questions. one, how'd you

get immunity and, second, how long does immunity last and how complete is it? there are two ways to get immunity, you get infected and recover or you get a vaccine and a 95% effective vaccine means if you get it, the risk of getting symptomatic infection should be reduced about 90%, so there is still a small chance you could get infected. what we don't know yet is so infected. what we don't know yet is so complete that immunity is or how long it lasts. we do know that people who recover from long it lasts. we do know that people who recoverfrom infection, there have been a few cases where people can get reinfected, so it is not complete immunity. the big question is going to be does the immunity lasts six months, one year, two years and the jury is still out. peter, briefly, how excited are you by this news from the united states about the moderna vaccine?” by this news from the united states about the moderna vaccine? i try not to get excited about scientific news by press release, but in this case, it is actually quite exciting. the reason is this, the moderna vaccine and the pfizer vaccines work with

similar modalities, messenger rna, which has never been done with a vaccine before really and the fact that they are getting similarly positive results, even if preliminary, really does validate the positivity. oksana, this is from whipsnade, is wearing the west gives —— mask is mandatory, why is the virus spreading so much and will a vaccine make a difference? well, a facemask is not a silver bullet, it is one tool that we know helps to reduce transmission and break the chains of transmission but we need other interventions alongside this, including hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene, in order to reduce the spread, so facemasks on their own is not the answer and even when a vaccine does become available, we will have to carry on with some of these public health interventions, because, really, in history, we have never had a mass

vaccination campaign on this scale before, just in terms of the reach as well as the number of people and the timeframe in which this will occur, so the timeframe in which this will occur, so not the timeframe in which this will occur, so not everyone the timeframe in which this will occur, so not everyone will be able to get it immediately and the government has already released a prioritisation system so we will need to carry on with wearing facemasks and other types of ways to protect our health and the health of others, until everyone is able to receive the vaccine, so there is still a long road ahead and we shouldn't expect this to be overnight and end the pandemic. peter, this is from sj in london. now the pfizer vaccine is safe and effective, although i don't think it actually has been definitively ruled as safe, but, anyway, will any of these other vaccines, including the oxford vaccine which we have heard

so oxford vaccine which we have heard so much about to be approved and be safe, too? that is the question. sj, i hope so and it is not because i'm particularly rooting for the oxford vaccine, it is because i'm rooting for all of the vaccines. we to vaccine literally —— vaccinate literally billions of people and that will require a manufacturing and distributing capacity, like 0 ksa na and distributing capacity, like oksana said, which is unheard of. it will also mean that vaccines will work better for specific population so we are work better for specific population so we are hoping that there will be as many of these vaccines is possible to get over the finishing line of demonstrating safety and efficacy and getting into the circulation. we do expect some preliminary results from the oxford vaccine trial phase three by the end of this year and several of these trials were started at the same time, results are starting to trickle out, so i am increasingly optimistic we will see more candidate vaccines with the chance of getting approved in early 2021. oksana, this is from david and

crawley. if the vaccine is successful and vaccination begins, how will i know if people around me ina public how will i know if people around me in a public place have been vaccinated? we won't know. there will not be a clear way forward in terms of identifying this. it will be in people's individual immunisation records, but it is not something you are going to be able to telljust by walking down the street. there was conversation previously around something like an immunity passport, but then that was also highly problematic and not really realistic to implement. so, in this sense, going back to the public health messaging, once the vaccine is available, we will still have to be cautious, because we won't be able to tell who around us has received the vaccine or not.

hello again. later this week but probably only briefly, we are in for some colder weather but for the next couple of days, very mild for the time of the year, a lot of cloud and for western scotland, some heavy enough rain to get some flooding by the middle of the week. we see the cloud rolling in today, sunshine has been hard to find, some rain and drizzle coming in from the west, mainly on that weather front there and that is continuing to push its way eastwards at the moment. so some outbreaks of mostly light rain and drizzle affecting many parts of the country for a while but it is really across western scotland that we will see the rain turning steadier and heavier as the night goes on, especially the highlands and into argyll and bute. a lot of cloud over night and, if anything, temperatures rising as the night goes on, a very mild 12-1a rising as the night goes on, a very mild 12—1a by the end of the night and, by this time, a stronger south—westerly wind. that will continue to blow in cloudy skies on tuesday, light rain or drizzle in the hills but most rain continuing to affect western scotland. it is

going to be very mild, temperature is widely 15 or 16. some breaks in the cloud and some sunshine to the east of high ground, temperatures could reach as high as 18 celsius. we have this very mild air coming from a long way south, all the tropics, but things are going to change. by thursday, the air is coming down from the north, it will feel much, much colder. and a transition day really is wednesday, this is when the weather starts to change. we've still got low pressure bringing some heavy rain in scotland through the day. on the weather front as it runs eastwards, the rain becomes light and patchy but we still have the last of this very mild air in the south—east. elsewhere, those temperatures sliding away in the stronger winds during the afternoon. however, much colderairto during the afternoon. however, much colder air to come. overnight on wednesday night into thursday morning, very windy, a spell of wet weather for a while and then those northerly winds arrived. by thursday morning, they could be ice and snow in northern parts of scotland. some

sunshine and showers through the day on thursday, the showers become fewer, those really strong winds in the morning then the north sea coast to eventually ease down, but it is certainly going to feel cold in those strong winds for a while. temperatures are going to lower, may be only four or 5 degrees in scotland, perhaps double figures in the south.

tonight at six... trials for a second coronavirus vaccine bring yet more hopes of a way out of this pandemic as britain buys up 5 million doses. this one, also from america, has proved almost 95% effective. the boss of the company moderna is delighted. i broke into an ear—to—ear grin when i hear the numbers. it really exceeded our best hopes and it is an incredibly exciting moment for us. it's brilliant news, absolutely brilliant. that's the second penalty now. that has also gone into the back of the net, so we are starting to feel in a better position. it comes just a week aftr pfizer released similar results for theirjab. also tonight:

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