65 new covid vaccination centres have come into operation across england. a mosque and a cinema are among the venues being used — but distribution of the jab is uneven, with some over 80s still waiting. it comes as a new study suggests coronavirus infection rates may have risen in england since the start of the lockdown. so, as we get the vaccination programme out there, as we continue to expand, i think we are up to 4.6 million people today, 5 million jabs, we've got to observe the lockdown, the stay—at—home message. we'll have the latest from our health correspondent. also this lunchtime:

the oxygen monitors that people with covid can use at home — we have exclusive access to the pilot scheme which doctors believe will save lives. hundreds of people are forced out of their homes, as storm christoph causes widespread flooding in england and wales. 200 flood warnings are still in place. just hours after taking office, us president biden reverses many of donald trump's policies, including on coronavirus and climate change. and, could this year's london marathon be the biggest ever? organisers want an extra 50,000 runners to take part — on their own routes. and coming up on bbc news: jimmy anderson replaces stuart broad for england's second test against sri lanka, starting on friday. the tourists won the first test by seven wickets.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. 65 new covid vaccination centres have come into operation today across england, including in a mosque in birmingham and a cinema in buckinghamshire. in some parts of the country, people over the age of 70 are now getting the jab, but in others, people in their 80s and older are still waiting. it comes as a study from imperial college london suggests infection levels in the community didn't fall at the start of the latest lockdown, and may in fact have risen. we'll have more on that in a moment, but first our health correspondent dominic hughes reports on the uneven roll—out of vaccines. at this mosque in birmingham, vaccinations are well under way. this is one of more than 60

new venues that have opened up today, run by local pharmacies. it's an important way to get the vaccine to communities that are especially vulnerable to covid—19 and sometimes hard to reach. is there any other way of tackling this pandemic than the vaccine? i don't see any other way. that is the most sensible thing for each and every one of us to do. i have a role to play. that is what i personally believe. if we can come together and play this role, i am definitely certain we will eventually overcome this challenge. but problems with the supply of the vaccine remain a challenge, leaving those trying to deliver it exasperated. it is frustrating. we have spent a lot of time and effort setting up centres. there are 15 across sheffield. gp practices are working in partnership to make sure it's ready to go. now we can deliver 700 to 800 vaccines a day, but the

supply to us is really limited. we may face a whole week of not being able to give any vaccines next week. the health secretary matt hancock acknowledges that there are problems with maintaining a smooth supply of the vaccine. we have a lumpy supply. the manufacturers are working incredibly hard to deliver the supply as fast as possible, but it is challenging and therefore, it is not possible to give certainty as far out as many gps and those delivering on the ground would like. the worst thing would be to give false certainty. it's notjust in england where frustrations are growing. in scotland, there have been accusations that the roll—out is lagging behind the rest of the uk. but ministers have defended their policy of prioritising care home residents, carers and front—line nhs staff. in east london, another new vaccination centre is up and running, and from nhs england's medical director, reassurance that the most vulnerable

will get theirjabs in good time. i'm very confident that we will be able to distribute the supplies to meet that target. of course, we rely on the manufacturers, but we are full steam ahead, we have over 4 million vaccinated, hundreds of thousands of people every day. and of course, opening sites like this just means that we've got more places for people to come to in order to hit that target. manufacturing the vaccine is a complex process, subject to multiple safety and quality control checks. getting it from the factory to vaccination centres, this one in a cinema in aylesbury, is farfrom simple, but it's still relatively early days in the biggest mass vaccination programme the country has ever seen. the infrastructure is in place to deliver the jabs. what's needed now is a consistent and reliable supply. dominic hughes, bbc news. a new study suggests coronavirus infection rates in the community in england didn't fall, and may in fact have risen, at the start

of the current lockdown. but ministers say the research from imperial college london doesn't take into account the full impact of the lockdown. 0ur health correspondent katharine da costa has the details. worrying findings from scientists tracking the spread of coronavirus. even with a national lockdown in england, new infections remain high, and instead of coming down may well have slightly increased in some areas. researchers from imperial college looked at swab results from a random sample of more than 140,000 volunteers between the 6th and 15th of january. they found 1.58% had the virus, that's about one in 63 people. rising to 2.8% in london. i think it is quite a complex picture. we did see a little bit of a dip at the beginning of the lockdown but now we see essentially a level with an r of around one.

but we are not seeing that fall that we really need to see from these very high prevalence levels. figures from nhs test and trace had suggested a recent drop in symptomatic cases. researchers think that could reflect a fall in infections just after christmas which is only now being picked up in officialfigures. data on people's movements show increased activity in early january, as people went back to work, which researchers say is keeping transmission high. i think what we're seeing in the 0ns data, in the react survey, we are seeing the contagiousness of the new variant that we saw arrive just before christmas. there is no doubt it does spread very fast indeed. it is not more deadly but it is much more contagious, and the numbers are very great. the study suggests the intense pressure on hospitals will continue. critical care beds in 15 hospitals

were completely full this week. while a0 others are reporting their icus are more than 95% full, that's even after creating nearly 40% more beds since november. health leaders are worried. i think there's a real nervousness that because of the transmissibility, how transmissible this new variant is, i think the slope down once you have got over the peak, is going to be slower than it was in the first phase. in that sense, i suspect that the pressure on hospitals will last longer than it did in the first phase. the study also suggests prevalence is highest in large households, deprived neighbourhoods and within black and asian communities. ministers will have to wait for more data next week but they will no doubt be worried if there is not a significant fall infections soon, tougher measures may be needed. katharine da costa, bbc news. and we can talk to dominic now. everything that we heard there, it

just reinforces how vital it is to get the vaccine out everywhere, to everyone. get the vaccine out everywhere, to eve one. . �* , , everyone. that's right. there is obviously _ everyone. that's right. there is obviously some _ everyone. that's right. there is obviously some concern - everyone. that's right. there is obviously some concern over i everyone. that's right. there is. obviously some concern over the ability to provide that smooth supply of the vaccine. we know as of yesterday 4.6 million people across the uk have received the vaccine, we are close to having vaccinated 2 million people in the last seven days so you can understand why ministers and nhs leaders are sounding optimistic on the one hand about the roll—out but those figures conceal quite big variations within regions across the uk. for example, in the east of england around 495,000 over 80s have been vaccinated, in london 476,000 have been vaccinated but the midlands, more than 830,000 vaccinated, in north—eastern yorkshire, 740,000.

those numbers are much bigger, that does not really tell us about proportions and we hope to get that break down from the nhs this morning, the figures have been delayed until this afternoon. last week nearly half of over 80s in north—east and yorkshire had been vaccinated whereas in london and east of england it was only one third. there has been quite a big difference. anecdotally, you hear about over 70s been vaccinated in one area, over 80s in the neighbouring area still waiting. 0bviously real frustration from gps and of those administering the vaccine is that the supply issue remains a problem but it is very early days in this mass vaccination programme, the biggest we've ever seen. . ., ~ programme, the biggest we've ever seen. . ., , . bbc news can reveal the nhs in england has bought hundreds of thousands of oxygen monitors for patients with coronavirus to use at home, in an

attempt to save lives. it follows research suggesting even small reductions in oxygen levels can be a warning sign of dangerous deterioration with covid—19. the devices are being given to patients aged 65 and over and others at high risk in an unprecedented roll—out. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. it could have ended completely differently, so, you know, i suppose i do owe them my life, really. dorset, where they've taken at the fight against the coronavirus into people's homes. lessons learned from the first wave have highlighted the danger of leaving some patients to sit out the infection alone. we have seen people who are critically low on oxygen and we've heard stories of people dying at home because they haven't been recognised, so i do think this simple bit of kit could really save your life. the bit of kit is a small, relatively cheap device known as an oximeter, which measures oxygen

levels in the blood. covid—positive patients, like michael kerr, who are age 65 and over, or who are at risk, are now being given the devices by gps in england and then monitored. yeah, i'm fine. 0ximeters are seen as vital because some patients with the virus are not breathless, despite having low oxygen levels. this dangerous condition is known as silent hypoxia. it has been reassuring for, not only me, but the family as well. research during a pandemic has shown that even relatively small drops in oxygen levels can be an early warning sign of serious illness. a reading of 95% and above is considered normal. at 93 and 94%, patients are now told to contact their gp or call 111. but if it's 92% or below, people are asked to recheck it, and if it is the same, go straight to a&e. it's like stiff upper lip, isn't it? you just think, i'm all right, i'll be ok. i can get on.

hospital is where denise nicholson ended up. she says even though she felt unwell, without the support she would never have known her oxygen levels were dangerously low. if it hadn't have been for the monitoring service, i don't think it would have been picked up. been highlighted that i had covid pneumonia. i think i would have tried to continue to battle on at home. i'm so grateful for having that service, and if they hadn't have come and they hadn't decided to take me into hospital, it could have ended completely differently so, you know, i suppose i do owe them my life, really. and doctors behind the scheme say small tweaks to patient care can make a huge difference. prevention is nearly always better than the cure. and whilst ventilators are really important in treating people who are serious unwell with covid, a simple intervention like an oximeter is probablyjust as important because by getting

to patients earlier, we can hopefully prevent their severe deterioration and potentially theirfuture need for a ventilator and an intensive care admission. and because of the impact of covid—19 on the lungs, doctors believe everyone should now have an oximeter at home. they're convinced these small devices can save lives. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. thousands of homes across england and wales were evacuated overnight, after widespread flooding caused by storm christoph. rivers reached record levels in parts of greater manchester and north wales. there are more than 190 flood warnings in place — four of them severe. in wrexham, emergency teams worked through the night to protect a warehouse where the covid vaccine is being stored, and this morning the prime minister visited didsbury to defend the government's record on funding flood defences. jon donnison has the latest. in greater manchester, people woke up to find

storm christoph had made its mark. with water levels continuing to rise and widespread flooding. over night as temperatures dropped, what started with strong winds and heavy rain turned to snow. the river mersey near didsbury full to bursting point. police were going door to door, evacuating homes. we have been living here 33 years and we have never had it as bad as this. we have been told to evacuate. however, during corona, where do you evacuate to? you don't want to impose yourself on other people, so we're trying to hold on as long as we can and hopefully, it will pass. flooding, never easy at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic. at times like this in emergencies, we're normally in and out of each other�*s houses making sure everyone is ok. if someone is missing

something, what can we do? and we haven't been able to do that, and that isolation really does not help with the whole mental health impact of flooding in itself. the prime minister was out and about this morning, perhaps aware of being criticised during previous floods for failing to respond quickly enough. a huge amount has been done here in greater manchester. another 60 million has been put into protecting the greater manchester area. you can see the defences that we have in place to protect people's homes and lives. but be in no doubt, everybody who visits a flooded area, anyone who has been through a flood knows the huge psychological, emotional and financial cost of flooding to people. in parts of north wales, people will also be counting the cost. but emergency teams managed to stop a warehouse storing covid vaccines from flooding. across the uk, forecasters say flood waters should subside in the coming

days as the weather improves. but more heavy rain, strong winds and snow are expected next week. jon donnison, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime: 65 new covid vaccination centres have come into operation across england. a mosque and a cinema are among the venues being used, but distribution of the jab is uneven, with some people over 80 still waiting. coming up — with uncertainty over when children go back to school, the government says it will give everyone two weeks' notice. coming everyone two weeks' notice. up on bbc news, rory has coming up on bbc news, rory mcilroy has had a good first round at the abu dhabi cabin shipping cost�*s european tour. he finished with eight birdies on one of the most demanding courses on the circuit. the us presidentjoe biden has begun to undo some

of donald trump's key policies hours after being sworn in — saying there's no time to waste in tackling the crises the country is facing. president biden has signed 15 executive orders, focusing on the response to coronavirus and climate change. he's also reversed the trump administration's stance on immigration. 0ur washington correspondent nomia iqbal reports. after four years of turbulence, it all seemed a lot calmer this morning. there was no traditional ball for president biden and vice president harris, but they got bruce springsteen and tom hanks. now it is my honour to introduce the president of the united states — joseph r bidenjr. this is a great nation. we're good people. and to overcome the challenges in front of us requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy — unity. hours earlier, the new leaders of america were sworn in on capitol hill.

so help me, god. congratulations, mr president. soon, president biden headed into his new office and started signing away donald trump's legacy with a pen. he green—lighted 15 executive orders — some of them included calling for a nationwide facemask mandate, and rejoining both the paris climate agreement and the world health organization. mr biden did receive a letter from his predecessor, though, which is a tradition. the president wrote a very generous letter. because it was private, i will, uh... i won't talk about it until i talk to him, but it was generous. that was the only tradition donald trump upheld on the day, though. he didn't attend the inauguration. instead, he flew home to florida with his wife melania trump, who looked like she was ready for a holiday. the fears that huge violence would break out across america in the run—up to the ceremony didn't happen. president biden and vice president harris are hopeful that they can now inspire

and unite the country. # you're a firework! # come on, show �*em what you're worth. this administration says it wants to set a unifying and optimistic tone for america. we are bold, fearless and ambitious. we are undaunted in our belief that we shall overcome, that we will rise up. but this new start comes just a few weeks after donald trump's loyal supporters stormed the capitol. the stakes for what president biden does in the next few years couldn't be higher. nomia iqbal, bbc news. gary 0'donoghue is in washington. there is always a focus in the us on the first 100 days of a presidency, isn't there? joe biden really

hitting the ground running. yeah, the even hitting the ground running. yeah, they even named _ hitting the ground running. yeah, they even named a _ hitting the ground running. yeah, they even named a programme . hitting the ground running. ir—u they even named a programme after it. joe biden today is going to be focusing on the pandemic pretty much exclusively, another ten executive actions looking at areas of distribution, particularly vaccine distribution, particularly vaccine distribution, because that is an area where they say no plan has been left to them by the previous administration. they have a huge uphill task here, jane, because yesterday we saw the second highest death rate in the united states from the pandemic, 4200 people plus losing their lives. and still only around 1600 million doses given so far of the vaccines. joe biden has an aim of giving 100 million in the first 100 days. the administration says it does have enough vaccine to do that, but whether it has the infrastructure to achieve that goal is still an open question.-

is still an open question. gary, thank yom _ the education secretary says he doesn't know when schools will be able to reopen to all pupils — but he promised that schools in england would be given two weeks' notice of reopening. he added that the government hopes children can get back into the classroom before easter. more details from our education correspondent sean dilley. it was confirmation of what parents already knew — there could be no guarantee about when schools in england would be able to reopen their gates to all students. but there was a glimmer of hope for teachers and families as the education secretary promised two weeks' notice of any return to the classroom. we will give notjust schools and teachers the time to be able to prepare, but we're also giving children the time to get ready and parents enough notice. and when the pressure on the nhs is starting to lift, that puts us in the best possible position to be able to welcome all children back into schools.

unions believe that offering teachers early vaccinations will offer reassurance to parents and a profession under pressure. nobody�*s talking about teachers wanting to jump the queue. we understand that there needs to be that emphasis on the people who are most at risk from this. but equally, we know that distinctively, if you're a teacher, firstly, you come into contact with lots of young people who we know can transmit the virus more than in its previous incarnation, and we also know in the career of teaching that if the teacher isn't there, it affects a class of 30. the government says the impact of any new variant and the success of the vaccination programme could all impact timings, but it will be community infection rates that will drive any decision to reopen schools. this would be likely to vary across the country, and so they say schools could reopen at different times. schools are also closed in the devolved nations. those in scotland and northern ireland will remain so until at least the middle of february. wales is due to review its

restrictions at the end of january. meanwhile, the department for education has published a policy white paper document called skills forjobs, setting out plans to overhaul further education for people over 16. the government says that by 2030, it wants to hand employers a central role in designing almost all technical courses to meet local training needs. businesses have been reporting for many years that there is a gap between the skills they need to make their businesses successful and the skills they are able to find within their local communities. so this is all about employers and providers working together to make sure we identify the skills we need now and in the future. groups representing the further education sector say more funding is needed to deliver the plans, but the government insists that funding will be targeted at training that's needed in the labour market, and it wants to put an end to what it describes as the illusion that a degree is the only route to success. sean dilley, bbc news. for staff working

on the frontline, the coronavirus is relentless. the numbers dying from the virus are higher than they've ever been , and as we are reporting, the country is in at an even faster race against time to keep hospitals functioning — until the vaccine rollout takes effect. three medics have recorded their experiences for bbc news — jayne mccubbin joined them to hear about the emotional impact it's having on their lives. we've asked three medics to share a night shift with us and reflect on the emotional impact of this crisis. three weeks ago, when i came over, there were 59 patients. now, we have nearly 140 and a lot of them are really, really sick. we have probably trebled the capacity of looking after critically unwell patients. it has come at high cost. the biggest problem is staffing. the staff feel anxious - about being asked to look after more and more patients when there aren't any more nurses. hello.

hi, peter. hi, nitin. hi, emily. hi, peter. hi, emily. it is worse than april. it's the rate of admissions. we're surpassing april easily. this is onjust a whole other scale. now i have about 20% of my medical workforce in icu that is off sick long term with covid, self—isolating or something. everyone's tired, everyone's stressed and we are short of people. and we have more patients, a lot more patients than we had the first time. nearly 50% more. covid admissions and deaths are at a record high. while hospitals are creating capacity to bring patients in, they can't magic up staff. we're seeing about four times as many deaths as we normally do

and there is the guilt of not being able to supply them with our usual high standard of intensive care. the reason itu works _ is because we have one—to—one nursing and nurses look— after the patients and they document every single observation, so if you dilute that, - you'll dilute the effect of intensive care. - absolutely. i'm taking care of two, three or four itu patients and that's way beyond what i would usually be doing. i wonder how much of a psychological toll we are storing up for icu staff. i think we will need to have a lot of support in place for health care staff once this ends. there will be a psychological reckoning here at some point. medics describe guilt for the things they cannot do and guilt for asking colleagues to do more and more and more.

so, i'm asking my colleagues to step up again _ can you do some extra work? and you know that you've already asked them to do that and you'rej asking them again and asking. the nurses to do it again so that, you know, and you're also saying, yeah, but we want to look - after you and they're kind l of like contradictory things. morale is low and there'sjust a sense of hopelessness. as their cities wake, they prepare for home, to sleep, then face the same again tomorrow. death rates and hospital admissions have yet to hit their peak. jayne mccubbin with that report. the glastonbury festival has been cancelled for the second consecutive year because of coronavirus. anyone who has tickets can use the next year. the organisers said they took the decision to cancel with great regret that they had moved heaven and earth to try to make it happen. the london marathon is used to breaking records —

but after the disappointment of last year, when the race was cancelled for amateurs because of coronavirus, the organisers want a record 50,000 people to compete this year. the marathon, usually staged in april, is now scheduled for october — and it's hoped another 50,000 runners will take part virtually — on a course of their own choice. 0ur sports news correspondent laura scott has been finding out more. air horns blow. a familiar sound in spring. streets teeming with runners and supporters. remember how the london marathon used to be? after the pandemic forced last year's mass event to go virtual, the ambition is that record numbers will return this october to run the capital's iconic route. the london marathon has to do what is right for society. it is far bigger than just for the runners. this is about the national health service, this is about charities, this is about communities. we are incredibly positive that we will be able to have 50,000 people running the london marathon

in person in 2021. time will tell. one of those aiming to take part has seen up close the strain caused by coronavirus. jo works at an nhs hospital in lewisham and has felt the benefits of running regularly. during what has been a really difficult time for so many people, how important is it to have a goal in the future to aim for that involves being physically active? i think having these milestones are really, really important, because it does give you something to look forward to and train for. my colleagues in the run club are from all over the nhs and some of the most front—line workers you will meet. we talk regularly about the importance of keeping active for our mental and physical health. the london marathon is the uk's largest annual fundraising event. during the pandemic, many charities have had to focus on their funding.