m5 ‘ur rolling out erur gout ii‘ul‘ei erur nit it"uiéi “ff/”l are now rolling out the biggest vaccination programme in our history. so far, we in the uk have vaccinated more people than in the rest of europe combined. with the arrival of the oxford—astrazeneca the pace of vaccination is accelerating. i can share with you the nhs‘s expectation for the programme in the coming weeks. by the middle of february, if things go well, and with a fair wind in oursails, we things go well, and with a fair wind in our sails, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to eve ryo ne offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four top priority groups identified by thejoint committee on vaccination and immunisation. that means vaccinating all residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, eve ryo ne over older adults and their carers, everyone over the age of 70, all

front line health and social care workers and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable. if we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus. and of course that will eventually enable us to lift many of the restrictions we have endured for so the restrictions we have endured for so long. i must emphasise that even if we achieve this goal there remains a time lag of two to three weeks from getting a jag to receiving immunity and a further time lag before the pressure on the nhs is lifted. we should remain cautious about the time table ahead. but if our understanding of the virus doesn't change dramatically once again, if the roll out of vaccine continues to be successful,

if deaths start to fall, as the vaccine takes effect, and critically if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then i hope we can move out of lockdown, re—opening schools after the february half term and starting cautiously to move regions down the tiers. i want to say to everyone right across the uk that i know how tough this is. and i know how frustrated you are and i know how frustrated you are and i know that you have had more than enough of government guidance about defeating this virus. but now more than ever, we must pull together. you should follow the new rules from now and they will become law on wednesday morning, parliament will meet late hear the day. i —— late hear the day. i know the

administrations in scotland, wales and northern ireland share my conviction that this is pivotal moment and they're taking similar steps. the weeks ahead will be the ha rd est yet. steps. the weeks ahead will be the hardest yet. but i really do believe that we are entering the last phase of struggle. with everyjab into our arms we are tilting the odds against covid and thanks to the miracle of vines is not op —— science not only is the end in sight, bewe know how we will get there. you must stay at home, protect the nhs and save lives. thank you all very much. studio: the prime minister, boris johnson, addressing the whole of the uk in the last section of his

address on the pandemic, urging people to pull together. but really with a mix of messages. which is to say that the current state of the pandemic is deeply alarming, that the spread of the virus, especially the spread of the virus, especially the n variation has caused massive problems, the nhs is at the risk of being overwhelmed. in terms of eve ryo ne being overwhelmed. in terms of everyone in england, the message was clear, stay at home. and just obey the rules. it is not dissimilar to the rules. it is not dissimilar to the message given by nicola sturgeon and mark dra keford the message given by nicola sturgeon and mark drakeford and arlene foster and mark drakeford and arlene foster and others in recent weeks. but this is the prime minister's own take on where we should be. it is a pivotal moment, he said, in terms of fighting the pandemic. we are in the last phase of the struggle, he said that in the context of vaccines that are coming on stream. but he did lay it on the line and said, look, this

isa it on the line and said, look, this is a crucial time, when people should stay at home, obey the rules and not take any risks. otherwise getting on top of it will be even more difficult than it is at present. so a forthright message from borisjohnson present. so a forthright message from boris johnson and present. so a forthright message from borisjohnson and outside downing street for us, our deputy political editor. what was notable in that for you? it was another some per message and —— sombre message and boris johnson talking per message and —— sombre message and borisjohnson talking of the the light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccines, but the truth is he can't wait that long and he has to return to something very similar to the march lockdown in england. there will be some differences. remember, social bubbles at the start in march didn't exist. they will stay in place. a lot of extremely important information there for people, particularly around the extremely clinically vulnerable being told to shield again. and also to parents and pupils, schools closed to at least february half term and an

acknowledgement from the prime minister that exams won't be able to go ahead in their current form. they're talking to the exam authorities about some alternatives. interesting he tried to lay out a time table for hope i suppose i would call it, talking about the vaccine roll out and giving for the first time an indication of how he thinks that will progress if things go to plan. that is to vaccinate by the middle of february the people in the middle of february the people in the top four vulnerable groups. so he is trying to lay out to people, saying he knows it will be difficult, that more sacrifices are going to be needed, we are going to have to live with these restrictions for much longer than any of us hoped. but he is saying that once they get those most vulnerable people vaccinated, that will then lead to a gradual lifting of the restrictions. but looking at this, because he made the point that there isa because he made the point that there is a three—week delay from the point

the final group get their vaccinations you're talking about march before the restrictions will start to be lifted in england. with that thought, thank you very much for now. what i would like to do is go to westminster and talk to the leader of the opposition, sir keir starmer. thank you forjoining us. your immediate response to the package that the prime minister announced 7 package that the prime minister announced? well, the situation we are in is obviously very serious. the figures are very stark. and these measures are necessary. sadly. there are, we support the package of measures that the prime minister has just outlined and i think whatever our criticisms and challenges of government we have got to pull together to make this work over the next few weeks and months. it is going to be a difficult period. there are questions about the timing of decisions etc, but now is the timei of decisions etc, but now is the time i think to support this package, pull together and do everything we can to try and make

this work. is there anything, i am wondering whether viewers are reflecting on this, is there anything that labour thinks should be in this measures that is not there. is there a notable absence? notan there. is there a notable absence? not an absence, the most important thing i think is the messaging about stay at home and going back to the spirit of march, because a lot is going to depend on the willingness of people to comply and i urge eve ryo ne of people to comply and i urge everyone to comply with the package that the prime minister has just outlined, to follow the guidance, but we have to rekindle that spirit. i think that in a way we need to remake the contract with the british people, to say in return for you enduring these measures for the coming weeks, the vaccine must be rolled out at speed. we need this to be mission critical. we were the first country to get the vaccine and we need to be the first to have the programme rolled out. it is that

spirit of march, stay at home, but we will support this package. whatever are the quarrels we have with the government we will support this. what is your message to pa rents this. what is your message to parents and teachers who have expressed frustration and some anger in recent days and specifically in terms of english schools, the prime minister was talking in that context, what is your message there? a lot of staff and teachers have done all they can to get some schools back open today. secondly schools back open today. secondly schools were not open today. and nobody wants to see schools close bg, but i'm afraid that is inevitable, given the serious situation that we are in. so i understand the anger and frustration. it is inevitable. what we now need i think is proper support for working parents, who will be really concerned about what to do in the coming days and week.

proper support for children at home, because that package needs to be in place and we need to already start working on how we get our schools re—open. working on how we get our schools re-open. thank you. keir starmer there. let's try and take stock. we we went through some of the things that the prime minister said and it was suggested on the basis outlined we could be looking at severe restrictions not just in we could be looking at severe restrictions notjust injanuary we could be looking at severe restrictions not just in january and february, but into march, which is the message that people are taking from the content of the address. i hugh pym is here. what did you take from that? picking up on that point you made, is when a restrictions are going to be start being lifted and the prime minister and the government at westminster is clearly pinning all its hopes on the vaccine, the two vaccines,

oxford—astrazeneca and pfizer. he made an interesting point that by mid—february it was likely that all the key groups would have been vaccinated, that is care home resident and carers, other health and care staff, the over 70s and the vulnerable. once that is done and if people keep to social distancing rules, then there could be the start ofa rules, then there could be the start of a consideration of easing. but there is a lot riding then on the vaccine being rolled out at the right scale to get to that point. he talked also about deaths falling. sadly, deaths will continue to rise even after cases start falling, it isa even after cases start falling, it is a bit ofa even after cases start falling, it is a bit of a lagging indicators. so the lockdown will have an impact on case numbers. but he set out a very interesting set of yard sticks to be looked at in february. some may be ha rd to looked at in february. some may be hard to achieve. just home in on that, when we come to that period, which ones do you think will be the

most challenging to meet and if they're not, where will we be?m most challenging to meet and if they're not, where will we be? it is they're not, where will we be? it is the vaccine roll out. because getting it to the scale of two million a week is a huge undertaking. it has never been done at this scale for the nhs or in the uk. in terms of hospital admission and cases, they will fall, they if fell last time, in the last lockdown in march and april, cases, deaths and hospital admissions did fall scotla nd and hospital admissions did fall scotland that will happen. whether it can happen at the right trajectory by mid—february is a big question. because as we have been discussing, cases that come through now will result in admissions in a few weeks' time. hugh pym there. now we will go to leeds and talk to our correspondent there, danny savage. leeds in tier 3 level of restrictions and given what we have heard, take us through the state of play in leeds, notjust in terms of

health service and in terms of local business and the concerns they will have. well, yorkshire and the humber isa have. well, yorkshire and the humber is a wide area is in tier level 3. so life was continuing not normally, but the restrictions were not as tough as in most other parts of england. but it is less than a week since places were cumbria were still in tier2, but since places were cumbria were still in tier 2, but cumbria is a place where infections have rocketed and two of the three main hospitals in that county are on the highest alert level. it was only yesterday that the director of public health in cumbria called for schools to be closed. that is geographically a long way from the perceived worst affected areas in the south—east of

england at the moment. now, areas in the latest statistics that has seen the latest statistics that has seen the biggest rises are here in the north of england, particularly the north—west. if you look at the top ten areas, they're in north—west england, particularly cumbria and particularly liverpool. and the new variant is about to hit northern england hard. according to those figures that we are look at. it is yet to reach its peak in this part of the country and that is what people are bracing for now. so from tier 2 a week ago, into tier 3, now into lockdown again, life is going to be different for people here in leeds and the wider part of the north of england as we almost go back to what we had in march. the streets will be quieter in 2a hours. a big change in daily life coming for parts of northern england that we re for parts of northern england that

were not as badly affected until this point and things are going to change dramatically now. thank you. there's been confusion surrounding the first day of the new term in primary schools. dunkley is in salford. we spoke before the prime minister's address, so bring us up to date, what does this mean for parents and pupils? yes, many children back to primary school today, and it has been a short trip to the classroom, because now it is back to home—schooling and remote learning. all schools will be closed except for those who are deemed vulnerable and for children whose parents are key workers. for millions of parents, the memory of home—schooling is all too fresh in their minds, and now many are back tojuggling their own their minds, and now many are back to juggling their own jobs and trying to teach their children, and there are still a number of issues looming. how long will this last? i

spoke to parents in march and they said it would be over by september, andi said it would be over by september, and i think we have learned how difficult it is to predict events and timescales. there will be some relief for all students that exams have been scrapped, as many have missed so much teaching time. teaching unions and head teachers will say this is ultimately the right decision, but the frustration is why the decision has been made so late in the day. teachers have said time and time again that ensuring children are set up for remote learning, ensuring they have laptops with adequate support to learn at home also takes time. some schools will be saying that before the christmas holidays they wanted to delay the start of term but the government said no and legal action could be taken against those at schools, and now here we are. the government has said they now agree, but if teachers are exposed to a potential virus. .. it is

but if teachers are exposed to a potential virus... it is going to be a difficult time for parents, full students, and for teachers, a lot has been learnt about remote learning, but there are many challenges ahead. elaine, just for those who have not heard what the prime minister said, for those tuning in, the context of exams and the kind of timetables ahead, just give us an update on that so that people know exactly where we stand in england now. we are pretty much going back to the situation we had in march, where schools will be open for vulnerable children and for the children of key workers. secondary schools, there was a delayed start for secondary school pupils, that was announced, and full students doing exams in years 11 and i3, was announced, and full students doing exams in years 11 and 13, they would be going back earlier, but thatis would be going back earlier, but that is now all changed because exams are no longer going ahead.

what are government saying they will co nsta ntly what are government saying they will constantly review the situation and see where the virus takes us, and that will have a huge impact on when they reopen. thank you for bringing us they reopen. thank you for bringing us up to date. we have been covering the address of the prime minister which happened at eight o'clock, when he announced that england would enter in effect a third national lockdown. boris johnson enter in effect a third national lockdown. borisjohnson said that people should stay indoors except for these limited exceptions. here isa for these limited exceptions. here is a clip of what he was saying. with most of the country already under extreme measures, it's clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out.

in england, we must therefore go into a national lockdown which is tough enough to contain this variant. that means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home. you may only leave home for a limited reason is permitted in law, such as to shop for essentials, to work if you absolutely cannot work from home, to exercise, to seek medical assistance, such as getting a covid test, or to escape domestic abuse. the full details of what you can and cannot do will be available at gov.uk/coronavirus. if you are clinically extremely vulnerable, we are advising you to begin shielding again, and you will shortly receive a letter about what this means for you. and because we now have to do everything we possibly can to stop the spread of the disease, primary schools, secondary schools

and colleges across england must move to remote provision from tomorrow — except for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. everyone will still be able to access ea rly—yea rs settings, such as nurseries. we recognise that this will mean it's not possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal. the education secretary will work with quual to put in place alternative arrangements. we will provide extra support to ensure that pupils entitled to free school meals will continue to receive them while schools are closed, and we will distribute more devices to support remote education. i completely understand the inconvenience and distress this late change will cause millions of parents and pupils up and down the country. parents whose children were in school today may reasonably

ask why we did not take this decision sooner, and the answer is simply that we've been doing everything in our power to keep schools open, because we know how important each day in education is to children's life chances. and i want to stress that the problem is not that schools are unsafe for children — children are still very unlikely to be severely affected by even the new variant of covid. the problem is that schools might none act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households. well, that was just a section there of what the prime minister had to say at eight o'clock this evening. it is now 26 minutes passed, you are watching a bbc news especial, getting reaction to what he said,

basically invoking a national lockdown in england with measures very similar to what we already see in scotland, wales and northern ireland. we were talking earlier about the effect on business, and there will clearly be lots of business people focusing on what the prime minister said about what they can do, in terms of takeaway services and all the rest of it. we we re services and all the rest of it. we were talking to simonjack earlier on. where are we after that address by the prime minister? a very unwelcome start to the first normal working day of 2021, but not that surprising for business. some reaction beginning to come in now, the british chambers of commerce say businesses will understand why the prime ministerfelt businesses will understand why the prime minister felt compelled to act, but the fact that he did not announce additional support for businesses alongside new restrictions they describe as baffling, they say there is a need to step up business support if it is to step up business support if it is to be an additional burden on

business. the tuc, the trade unions congress, has come out and said the financial support package on offer isn't good enough to cope with this renewed threat, and we mentioned earlier didn't we, ed, schools closing, which is a massive impact on peoples ability to work. —— huw. they are talking about encouraging working families by encouraging employees to furlough people who cannot work because of childcare responsibilities and increasing the rate of statutory sick pay to encourage those who need to self—isolate in the weeks and months to come. the street behind me would normally be hoping that people would have been there in the january sales, but nonessential shops already forced to close. if we go back to the national lockdown measures in april of this year, that would mean builders merchants,

garden centres, off—licences would also need to close, which they don't have to at the moment. but business groups are saying, if you need to do that, don't thinkjust groups are saying, if you need to do that, don't think just about the businesses that have to close but the supply chains, so i very unwelcome start to 2021, which many people hope it would be a year of recovery. that seems to be a premature thought at the moment, huw. thank you, simon jack, our business editor with his thoughts on the business world following that statement, and indeed some reaction from business already about the lack of support, as they say it, in the package the prime minister announced. having said all that, because there is lots of very depressing and alarming news that we have been reporting, the prime minister reflecting lots of it, but important to announce as well and to reflect that there has been some very good news today, because the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine is now being administered, just a single dose providing 70% protection from getting ill from the virus, and our

medical editor fergus walsh has more details. another key moment in the fight back against coronavirus. 82—year—old brian became the ist person in the world to receive the oxford astrazeneca vaccine since it was approved. he has dialysis three times a week and so is clinically vulnerable. the vaccine means everything to me. and so is clinically vulnerable. it's the only way of getting back to a bit of normal life. the virus is terrible, isn't it? it was here in oxford that this vaccine was created and where trials began in april last year — so fitting that it should be one of six hospital trusts in england to begin administering the injection. it was a huge privilege. every single patient that was vaccinated over the last couple of weeks have got their own personal stories to the difference it will make for them. the queue to receive the vaccine is already forming here.

there is huge public interest in the rollout out of this vaccine. the government has ordered 100 million doses. the key question is, how quickly can the priority groups be immunized? there are 31 million people in those priority groups. top of the list are care—home residents and workers. the aim is to have immunised all of them by the end of the month. the over—80s and frontline health workers are also in the first wave. then in descending age groups from 75—plus down to the over—sos. other key groups are clinically extremely vulnerable people and those with underlying health conditions. we've already delivered over a million vaccines of the pfizer injection, and now we've got the astrazeneca one, so we aim to get it into people's arms as quickly as it is supplied to us. if we get 2 million doses a week, our aim is to get 2 million doses into the arms

of those priority groups. also among the first to be immunised was the doctor who led global trials of the oxford injection. he emphasised the importance of mass vaccination. anyone who is eligible to vaccine which everyone needs to come forward and be vaccinated because he has to have a massive rollout over the next few months. the oxford astrazeneca vaccine can be stored in the fridge. a key advantage over the pfizer vaccine which has to be transported at minus 70. it will also play a key role in the global immunisation. 3 billion doses are set to be distributed worldwide this year. fergus walsh is with me now. fergus walsh is with me nowm fergus walsh is with me now. it is important, on a day like today, when there is plenty to be really concerned and alarmed about, just to

focus on the fact that there is hope, as the prime minister says — we could be in the final phase of this battle, even though it is a painful one and involves lots of sadness for lots of people. so when you listened to the prime minister earlier, going through the various categories of people, the kind of timetable for vaccination, what was your thoughts? what can you offer viewers in terms of guidance? well, i think what it shows is that there isa i think what it shows is that there is a way out, there is a path out of this pandemic which the vaccine will deliver, and every single person who gets immunised, it is one more chipping away of the power and strength of coronavirus. but it is going to get worse before it gets better. now, i've done some totting up better. now, i've done some totting up of the figures in the over 70s, day care home residents and workers, the front line health care workers — some debate among me and my collea g u es some debate among me and my colleagues about how many people thatis, colleagues about how many people that is, but somewhere between

10-14,000,000 that is, but somewhere between 10—14,000,000 people. we have donei million people already, but the six weeks into february, it is getting up weeks into february, it is getting up to weeks into february, it is getting upto2 weeks into february, it is getting up to 2 million people a week. in the first month, we have done i million, so to do upwards of 2 million, so to do upwards of 2 million a week is a huge target, especially given there will be a slightly slow start with the oxford jab, because the first couple of days, they want to just do surveillance and check they have got everything rolled out. by the end of the week, they say 1000 different gp vaccinators and different vaccination stations will be set up, but it will be a massive task to do that. but if all of those people have their first dose by mid—february, that really would blunt the impact of the virus. we will talk more, i'm sure, but thank you very much for now, fergus walsh. we will have continuing coverage and reaction on the bbc news channel, andi reaction on the bbc news channel, and i will be back for the bbc news at ten with all the latest detail of

the prime minister's statement and reaction. from all hello. another frosty and the places i night tonight across many parts of the uk. look at the uk. we'll continue to see wintry showers so feeling easterly wind,. high pressures to the north of us, low pressures to the south and east, and that means we are getting more it will still dominate quite when the at victory for england and england and wales and well it stays cold for the frost and ice will be more in the way of rain and that sleet and hail snow for some of you particularly towards the southeast corner, especially wet across parts of kent, sussex, surrey, down towards the channel islands. as much as 50 mm of rain could cause minor flooding. but even here could teach things toward wintry. also across the surry hills. could be a slight

dusting of snow. but nowhere