this is bbc news with the latest headlines: parents in england should send their children to primary school tomorrow, the prime minister says — but warns tougher measures may be needed in the weeks ahead — and refuses to rule out further school closures. it may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. i don't... i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are reconciled to that. tougher restrictions could be on the way in scotland, as nicola sturgeon recalls parliament amid a rapid rise in covid infections. india's medicines regulator gives the go—ahead for two coronavirus vaccines, as it starts one of the world's biggest vaccination programmes. the oxford jab will be used alongside a locally developed vaccine.

hello, good afternoon. the prime minister borisjohnson has warned that coronavirus restrictions in england are, "probably about to get tougher" in order to bring the virus under control. but borisjohnson also insisted primary schools should open as planned this week — except in london and some areas of the south—east, where the new variant of coronavirus is rising rapidly. mrjohnson said there is "no doubt" in his mind that schools are safe. here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. arriving in a hurry to deliver a difficult message. the prime minister gave his first interview of the year this morning and warned that life with coronavirus in england is likely to get worse before it gets better. he said the government may soon impose tighter

restrictions in more areas. it may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. i don't... i mean, i'm fully, fully reconciled to that and i bet the people of this country are fully reconciled to that. under pressure over the return to school for children in england, the prime minister said there'd be no change and most primaries would open as planned tomorrow. schools are safe — very, very important to stress that. the threat, the risk to kids, to young people, is really very, very, very small indeed, as the scientists continually attest. the risk to staff is very small. and, of course, the benefits of education are so huge. overwhelmingly, we want to keep our young people, keep children, keep kids in education because that's the best thing for them. but teaching unions say the time is not yet right and want primaries open only to vulnerable and key worker children, with the rest taught remotely for now.

the levels of risk in school are heightened compared to other areas, but we're not saying close schools down and keep teachers away. they've been working during any period of restricted access to keep education going and it's simply a short and determined period to get the new strategies and better strategies of control into schools, to make them covid—secure again. in wales and northern ireland, the return of primary schools is delayed for a week. in scotland, for two weeks. borisjohnson didn't rule out further closures in england. we will keep this under constant review, but we will be driven by public health considerations and by the massive importance of education. for parents like charlotte, it's a frustrating time. we are lurching from crisis to crisis, in that this isn't a feasible way forward every time there is a surge in the virus rates. we cannot limp from school closure to school closure. whether schools are open or closed, most people in england are now living under the tightest level of restrictions.

for how long and how many more willjoin them remains uncertain. and jonathan said boris johnson was particularly keen that parents and carers heard his message that schools are safe. the fact that he is having to sit here and make that case, that it is safe for children to return to school, the day before they are due to do so, suggests that it has been quite difficult for the government to get that message across for all sorts of reasons, and even if it is safe, the bigger question perhaps is whether it is practically possible. there is no letup in the pressure from teaching unions, who say the time is not yet right for primary school children to go back and if enough teachers simply decide that they agree with that then something will have to change, perhaps between now and tomorrow morning. the bigger picture, though, is that the prime minister has often tended towards optimism in his outlook in terms of the response to the pandemic.

that has come back to bite him more than once, but there wasn't much of that today. a stark warning from borisjohnson that things are likely to get tough for people in more parts of england, so i think we may well see more areas move into tier 4 before too long, and with most of the country already under those restrictions it will start to feel like a national lockdown before long, perhaps. the return to school still in doubt because the closure of schools, although a last resort for the government, again today wasn't ruled out. jonathan blake there. the prime minister's suggestion that restrictions could increase comes as council leaders in liverpool call for another national lockdown to prevent what they call a "catastrophe". it's believed the new variant of the virus is beginning to move from the south to north, with cases in liverpool almost trebling in the past two weeks. the acting mayor of liverpool, councillor wendy simon, said the tier system wasn't working. i think the difficulty with this new strain of the virus is the speed at which it is actually infecting people. and certainly what we've seen over the last few weeks is that the tier

system hasn't worked with this particular strain of the virus. and people moving between tiers, as they have done — you know, we've been in tier 2 and then gone into tier 3, and still you're getting that movement of people between those tiers and then infecting people in those lower tier areas. so, for us, we feel before we get to crisis point in the city, we have had that mass testing pilot where we saw our numbers come down significantly, so for us there needs to be three areas that we need to work on — so there is the lockdown to bring the numbers under control, that mass testing to continue, and for a community—led vaccination programme that is place—led within the city, to get that vaccine out as soon as possible, if we are to actually break the back of this virus over the next few weeks. councillor wendy simon there. nicola sturgeon has asked the scottish parliament to be recalled tomorrow amid a rapid rise

in covid infections. the first minister says the increase in virus cases in scotland is of "very serious concern" and warns of increasing pressure on the nhs. so she has asked the presiding officer of the scottish parliament to recall msps. our scotland correspondent, jamie mcivor, says the big question is whether the current restrictions need to be widened. now, to remind you, all of mainland scotland is currently at level four, the toughest level of restrictions which the scottish government currently has in place. nonessential retail and hospitality is closed. new year this year was very different to a normal new year in scotland. now the question is whether more restrictions will be necessary. perhaps the guidance on working from home, for example, may have to change and nicola sturgeon has asked the scottish parliament to be recalled tomorrow for what is described as an urgent statement. she's made a series of tweets this morning setting out the situation, making the point that vaccines offer the way out of the crisis,

but that the period between then and now is the most serious since the start of the pandemic last year and she says the scottish government's responsibility must be to act quickly and decisively in the national interest. now, another big question, perhaps the biggest issue on many people's minds today will concern schools in scotland. now, she explained the plan at the moment. pupils will not return to the classroom until at least january 18th, but schools will be open before then for children of key workers and also for children deemed to be vulnerable. in the week before, beginning on january 11th, there will be online learning, so one big question today is whether or not the return of children to the classroom may have to be delayed. the scottish government's education recovery group is meeting tomorrow ahead of the scottish cabinet meeting. it's a body that brings together various stakeholders in education, including unions, councils and education experts, as well as politicians.

it's emerged that israel has given vaccinations against coronavirus to more than one million people, the highest rate in the world. it's achieved a rate of 12.5 doses per 100 people, followed by bahrain at 3.119 and the uk at 1.47, according to a tracking website affiliated with oxford university. india's opposition congress party has warned that the government's decision to approve the emergency use of a locally developed coronavirus vaccine, covaxin, was premature and could be dangerous. another vaccine, developed by astrazeneca and oxford university, has also been approved. the jabs will kick off one of the world's biggest immunisation drives in the world. anbarasan ethirajan reports from delhi. this was the moment many in the world's second most populous nation were waiting for. after days of uncertainty over which coronavirus vaccine will be approved for emergency use, a drug regulatorfinally spoke.

after adequate examination, the cdsco has decided to accept the recommendations of the expert committee and accordingly vaccines of m/s serum and bharat biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situation and permission is being granted to m/s cadila healthcare for conduct of the phase iii clinical trials in india. with the approval of oxford university astrazeneca and the indian covaxin jabs, the roll—out can happen within weeks. astrazeneca has tied up with a local partner to produce the vaccine in india. the indian prime minister, narendra modi, expressed hisjoy for the fact that both the vaccines will be produced in india, but within hours of the approval of the two vaccines, controversy has erupted. the opposition raising concerns over the permission given to the locally made covaxin. critics argue that safety

and efficacy of the vaccine has not been reviewed. but the drug regulatory authority said both the vaccines were safe to use. experts say the government needs to allay the fears over the vaccine. i think the way to deal with resistance is to have a very strong communication strategy. that needs to be developed. and also for the government to work very closely with communities, both in the kind of urban setting as well as the rural setting. and understand, for example, working with, you know, opinion leaders within communities, religious, nonreligious social leaders, you know, people who have a lot of influence. approving the vaccine is only the first step. the challenge is a glitch—free campaign in the coming months. the world will watch and learn from how india rolls out one of biggest vaccination exercises. anbarasan ethirajan,

bbc news, delhi. at least 21 people have died after the roof of a crematorium collapsed in northern india. a funeral was taking place in uttar pradesh and several people had been taking shelter under the roof while it rained. dozens of people have been rescued and some taken to hospital. the state's chief minister has announced two lakh rupees — that's around $2,700 — as financial relief for the families of each person killed. thousands of people have been gathering in baghdad to mark the first anniversary of the assassination by the us of the iranian general, qasem soleimani. the march is part of a series of events to mark the anniversary. general soleimani was killed in an american drone strike near baghdad airport on this day last year, along with nine other people, including a powerful iraqi militia leader, abu mahdi al—muhandis. the former leader of the real ira michael mckevitt has died. the 71—year—old, who had previously been diagnosed with cancer, was one of four men found liable for the omagh bombing.

the attack, in 1998, killed 29 people and unborn twins. you are watching bbc news. let's return now to the issue of school closures. boris johnson insisted that it is safe for english primary schools to remain open in most areas, despite rising infection rates. let's remind ourselves what's happening with schools in the rest of the uk. in northern ireland, face—to—face teaching is being postponed by at least a week. pupils will be taught remotely until schools start to fully re—open from january 11th. many schools in wales are also opting for online learning untiljanuary11th, although some are aiming to fully re—open from tuesday. and in scotland, pupils won't return to the classroom until at least january 18th. most of them will be learning online from january 11th.

joining me now is gemma cocker in brighton, her son was due to go back to primary school tomorrow. thanks very much for being with us, it would normally be a very busy day and not least, getting an early night for the first day back! do you know now what is happening with your school? yes. hello. our school is closing tomorrow, we found out late last night that it is closing. a p pa re ntly last night that it is closing. apparently the brighton and hove local authority who advise all schools in brighton and hove have advised them not to reopen for tomorrow, so... so this is the local authority, as opposed to the government, saying this? yes. and i suppose from your point of view it doesn't matter, you just need a clear direction. yes. do you wish to do is this decision had come sooner. yes, that would have been helpful, but i do understand why it hasn't. now it isjust but i do understand why it hasn't. now it is just knowing how long it is going to be closed for, is it going to be close for two weeks and then reopen or close again? it's just the not knowing. your son is old enough to have experienced last

yearin old enough to have experienced last year in the classroom. what impact do you on him? i think it was really hard. you know, on one hand great, he is not going to school, he is staying at home, but then also all the friendships that he was starting to form in the first few months of reception year sort of got lost and it has taken time to rebuild back again and now we are closed again. is he disappointed? yeah. ijust asked him, actually, downstairs and isaid, how asked him, actually, downstairs and i said, how do you feel? he said, i feel sad. i said i said, how do you feel? he said, i feel sad. isaid if i said, how do you feel? he said, i feel sad. i said if you don't go to school for two weeks how you feel? he said really sad. yes, i'm sure a lot of kids feel like that. it is a lwa ys lot of kids feel like that. it is always fun to have them at home, but equally you worry about the long—term impact of, right, he hasn't got exams, but it is a really important stage in his development. yes, exactly. do you have a bit of a network of parents. ? yes. we have a whatsapp group. what are they saying

on the whatsapp group?m whatsapp group. what are they saying on the whatsapp group? it is interesting, the vocal ones are quite angry about it, dismayed, really not looking forward to the next couple of weeks or however long it might be. but equally i have friends who are teachers and their view is they shouldn't be going back anyway, they are on the front line, not quite the same as the nhs, but they have got no ppe and are not protected at all, so i can see both sides of it. in a sense, it's an impossible dilemma, in that sum... you know, it is not going to be perfect for everybody, is it? some people who would have sailed through this without any infection and feel they are losing their education, and others who may be vulnerable and are relieved to have the kids home, safe, as they see it. what questions would you like the people who make the decision is to ask themselves before... understanding the difficulty of kind of dealing with this pandemic is unknown territory for everybody. yes. that is a really ha rd for everybody. yes. that is a really hard one. probably if i thought about it they will be a long list of

questions to ask them! i think it is the not knowing, so if we're going to be closed, how long do they foresee us closed for? i think it is worse to close, open, close again. so if closing for a couple of weeks 01’ so if closing for a couple of weeks or longer is really going to help, then that is what should be done, but the chopping and changing is not going to be helping my son and i don't think it would help others either. yes, iwould don't think it would help others either. yes, i would like to see what evidence they have got, the scientific evidence. you know, our school is spreading it? there is lots of debate, friends of mine who don't have children think it is the schools that are spreading it, others think it is pubs or restau ra nts, others think it is pubs or restaurants, so i haven't seen any of the scientific evidence and there is always lots of arguments in the press that the government should share more of it. just on the question of the effect, ijust wonder what is your view as a parent in the weeks before the business break? were you comfortable with

your son back at school? did you feel it was an environment as safe as anywhere ever can be, that they had kind of got things that give you reassurance or confidence as a parent? yeah. i think our school has been fantastic. i think primary schools are very different to secondary schools and i have had no worries about our primary school at all. and i think that you sort of have to balance out the risk versus the benefit of being in school and the benefit of being in school and the learning that he is having, not just in the reading and writing, but the friendships he is forming. you know, he goes to football on saturdays, that is all cancelled as well, so i think the longer term impact of him not being in school and in friendship groups and groups is possibly, i'm not a scientist, but possibly greater than the impact of him getting covid—19. but possibly greater than the impact of him getting covid-19. gemma cocker, as you say it is a question lots of people ask themselves. for now, thank you very much for talking

us now, thank you very much for talking us through your experiences and i hope your son isn't sad for too long. thanks very much. thank you. bye. the prime minister says he expects "tens of millions" of coronavirus vaccinations will be given over the next three months. from tomorrow doctors across the uk are due to start giving out more than half a million doses of the oxford vaccine. but there are still quesions about the decision to change when the second dose of both the oxford and pfizer vaccines should be given. our health correspondent, anna collinson, reports. vaccines are the greatest weapon in the fight against the coronavirus, and doctors say rapid delivery is vital to protect the most vulnerable. from tomorrow, around 530,000 doses of the newly approved oxford astrazeneca jab will be available at some uk hospitals. there were hopes there would soon be 2 million vaccinations a week but this morning the prime minister was unable to confirm that. obviously everybody is working flat out to do this. we are greatly in advance of all comparable countries,

but we do hope we will be able to do tens of millions in the course of the next three months. there will now be a 12—week delay between the first and second dose of the two vaccines which have been approved by the uk's regulator. the government's scientific advisers say vaccinating a greater number of people with a single dose will prevent more deaths and hospitalisations, compared to vaccinating a smaller number of people with two doses. so how much protection does the first jab provide? government scientists say two to three weeks after getting the first dose the pfizer vaccine, around 90% of people were prevented from falling ill and the oxford vaccine shows protection of 73% after three weeks, so the short term protection seems to be very high. some scientists say there is pretty convincing data the delay

will enhance the oxford vaccine, but the pfizer one is seen as more controversial. i think it's so important that with this decision that's been made that there are actually scientific studies that go on to look at the effect of delaying the second dose. i personally think it may well produce as good or better an immune response, but we really need to study it. while the vaccines bring hope, they are not yet able to help struggling hospitals who have been battling the virus for nearly a year. the icu staff say the first wave has both helped and hindered managing the second one. we know what's coming our way, we know how to deal with it so we feel much more confident. one of the downsides is that because we have been through it all before, staff are very, very tired. so far nearly1 million people have been vaccinated but there still a long way to go with around 30 million people in the most vulnerable group, including those who live and work in care homes. it may be the start of a new year,

but we still face many of the same problems. anna collinson, bbc news. joining me now is professor robin shattock, head of immunity at imperial college london. professor robin shattock,, thanks for being with us this sunday afternoon. first of all, a lot of talk about these vaccines and this decision to extend the time between the first and second dose. what are the first and second dose. what are the risks and potential advantages of doing that? well, the potential advantage of having a wider gap is you can get more people to receive their first dose and that may well prevent them from ending up in hospital in the short term. and certainly, there is evidence there to support that for the astrazeneca oxford vaccine. the evidence for the pfizer vaccine is less robust. it is only for three weeks, we don't know what level of protection a single dose might give over a period of up to 12 weeks. the potential risk is

if it is a suboptimal immune response, although it may reduce hospital admissions it may give the virus a window to evolve mutations that may render the vaccine less efficacious in the future, so it is really a judgment call. there is no obvious right decision and people are trying to make the right balance over presenting the hospitals continue to have high numbers of cases, versus the risks of not going for the full regime in the shortest possible time. i suppose the difficulty, then, is time is critical, both in terms of getting up critical, both in terms of getting up to the numbers that will help start to suppress the disease, but at the same time you are dealing with the time factor of the virus itself being able to change its approach, dubbed itself, if it is given an opportunity? yeah, i mean it, it is a risk, it is a theoretical risk, we don't know how big that is. the most important point is that actually the way of

bringing down infections most rapidly is to have more emphasis on social distancing, locking down, you know, society, so that we reduce transmission in a much more immediate fashion, so that we can do vaccination in a rationalised, evidence—based way. vaccination in a rationalised, evidence-based way. yeah, and it is a very good point about the risk, i suppose, that we have all subconsciously, at least, absorbed the fact that there is a vaccine, there is a way out, it that is coming to an end, and it may have equally subconsciously affected our behaviour, made us a bit more casual then we would have been before the vaccine, before we knew that there was a vaccine? yeah, i think it is pretty likely that both christmas, new year and the thought that a vaccine is around the corner probably has made people relax and put potentially people are becoming complacent to the news because they hear repeatedly about coronavirus and they really need to make sure

that they adhere to these precautions because this virus is very transmissible and even though the nhs will move as fast as possible, 2 million vaccinations a week, if we can get to that level, is still going to be slow to provide the level of immunity on a population basis that will start to impact on hospital admissions. because i was going to ask you about these numbers. sirjohn bell, professorjohn bell, i should say, at oxford, obviously involved in working on the oxford vaccine, said the astrazeneca and their partners will deliver another 450,000 doses on monday, on top of the 530,000 that have already been delivered, so he's basically saying, we have got! million doses ready to go. he is confident there will be a flow of vaccines going to 2 million by the middle of the month and when you get the other vaccines as well, that gives us, doesn't it, a realistic ambition that the 2 million is not a figure that the government perhaps can be accused of plucking from the

sky? yeah, i think2 million is realistic. we are not there and it is not clear when we will get there, but even with 2 million a week, it is still going to take quite some time to get the level of vaccine coverage to start to bring down transmission and hospital admission rates to a level that allows us to start to feel life is getting back to some degree of normality. and just finally, if you could, what sort of figure vaccination, what sort of figure vaccination, what sort of figure vaccination, what sort of numbers at lao population of 60 odd million do we need to get to to give us a realistic chance of suppressing the virus?|j to give us a realistic chance of suppressing the virus? i think the first port of call is really to try to get as many of the vulnerable population vaccinated because they really account for most of the hospital admissions, so that strategy of targeting the most vulnerable is going to be the most impactful in the shortest period of time. it will take much longer to do it on time. it will take much longer to do itona time. it will take much longer to do it on a population basis, in order to start to reduce transmission itself. professor robin shattock

from imperial college london, thank you very much for being with us this afternoon on bbc news. the american broadcaster larry king has tested positive for coronavirus. the 87—year—old is being treated at a hospital in los angeles, according to us media. his representatives have not publicly commented and details of his current condition are unclear. he has faced several health problems in recent years, including heart attacks. during last year's lockdowns, many of us developed new passions, or found ourselves revisiting old ones, and for eight—year—old amari from south lanarkshire that meant celebrating her love of poetry. amy irons has been back to catch up with her, as she looks ahead to what 2021 might bring. i'll tell yous aw something to yous fae wee me. i've been telt to stay in and i'm no longerfree. but when the lockdown is lifted and staying in isnae a must i'll tell you something, petal. you'll no' see me for dust. so that was amari six months ago, really summing up a lot

of our feelings in 2020. now i've come back to see how she's getting on. hi, amy! how are you doing? i'm good, how are you? i'm good. i'd ask you to come in, but because of the coronvarius, nobody‘s allowed in each other‘s houses. i know! i'll get my mum to open the window. just wait a wee minute. 0k! so i've not seen you in over six months. tell me, what's it been like? i'd say it's been the absolutely worst! and why‘s it been the worst? because we can't step out the house. i've missed family, missed going out places with my family. missed my friends, missed my world. you miss your world? cos the world's different, isn't it? yeah. and what do you think 2021 is going to be like? you said 2020's been the worst. it'll be better and then everything

would be back to normal. the vaccine's coming in easter, i think. because i heard it was coming on easter and then they have, theyjust need to get some more for everybody to get some. well, that was 2020 and i don't think it was great. i'll tell yous i did plenty — just as well i'm only eight! tell me something, sunshine, just what's that all about? one minute it was fine, then i'm telt no' to go oot! my ma just kept on saying, we don't want people sick. so just keep doing what you're doing and it'll be back to normal quick. so i'm getting my bike ready to head out without fear cos once the vaccine's ready, well, 2021's going to be my year! 2021 is certainly going to be her year, i have no doubt about that! china is celebrating a successful year of breeding pandas

and they've released some new footage of the animals china is celebrating a successful year of breeding pandas and they've released some new footage of the animals at play. 44 giant pandas were bred in captivity in china in 2020, bringing the country's total panda population to 633. these ones were filmed at the wolong national nature reserve in sichuan province, in south—west china. were, in pandemic here hasn't everybody had to make their own entertainment? now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. the cold and wintry weather we have had to start 2021 shows no sign of letting up through the week ahead. it is going to stay pretty chilly out there with a mixture of rain, sleet and snow at times, but not all the time. there will also be some spells of sunshine. through the rest of sunday into the night, we will see further showers streaming in from the east. rain at low levels, but some sleet and snow, even over fairly modest hills and some ice likely across parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. through the night, temperatures hovering just above freezing i think across some south—eastern parts of england. further north and west,

northern ireland and scotland