is particularly effective against the uk variant. it's called novavax — it's an american vaccine that's being made here. if approved, the uk has 60 million doses on order. it's made in teesside. not only have we trialled _ it's made in teesside. not only have we trialled the vaccine to show its safe and _ we trialled the vaccine to show its safe and effective but we are also making _ safe and effective but we are also making it — safe and effective but we are also making it so we'll be able to save lives _ making it so we'll be able to save lives in _ making it so we'll be able to save lives in the — making it so we'll be able to save lives in the uk. it comes as the eu battles with a shortage of vaccine — empty vaccination centres in germany as jabs are postponed. we'll have the latest details on this new vaccine that's been developed. also tonight... the prime minister on a visit to scotland — he calls arguments about holding a scottish independence referendum "completely irreleva nt" during the pandemic. in prison afterflying home

from medical treatment in germany, russia's opposition leader calls his detention illegal, as a court rejects his appeal. the cladding crisis — the woman who lost everything after buying a flat that turned out to be unsafe. and the 93—year—old holocaust survivor who went viral after having his coronavirus vaccine. and coming up in sport on bbc news, liverpool's goal drought is over. they've scored their first of 2021 against tottenham in the premier league, but can they hold on for the win? good evening. there's more good news tonight for the uk's vaccination programme. a fourth vaccine could be approved shortly, after major trials in the uk showed it was particularly effective against the uk variant. novavax is an american jab, but it's being produced here in the uk in a factory on teesside.

tonight, the prime minister thanked all the volunteers involved in the trials and said if approved by the uk's medicine regulator, the uk has 60 million doses on order. the news came amid a deepening row between astrazeneca and the european union over vaccine shortages. our medical editor fergus walsh reports. once again, science has triumphed in the fight against coronavirus. the us firm novavax has released results of its british trial showing the first proven efficacy against the new, more contagious uk variant. there were more than 15,000 volunteers on the trail throughout the uk. over half the cases of covid recorded were the result of the new variant. the results showed the vaccine was 95% effective against the original covid strain and over

85% effective against the new uk variant, giving an overall efficacy of 89%. the former head of the uk vaccine task force said that in a separate trial in south africa, the vaccine had shown it protected against the variant of concern there. �* , ., against the variant of concern there. �*, . ., . against the variant of concern there. ., . , there. it's a fantastic result because — there. it's a fantastic result because it _ there. it's a fantastic result because it shows _ there. it's a fantastic result because it shows the - there. it's a fantastic result i because it shows the novavax there. it's a fantastic result _ because it shows the novavax vaccine is effective against both the uk variant as well as the south african variant as well as the south african variant and has shown phenomenal efficacy, and it's made in teesside so not only have we trialled the vaccine to show its safe and effective but we are also making it too, so we'll be able to save lives in the uk. too, so we'll be able to save lives in the uk-— too, so we'll be able to save lives in the uk. ~ . , , in the uk. meanwhile, the biggest immunisation _ in the uk. meanwhile, the biggest immunisation drive _ in the uk. meanwhile, the biggest immunisation drive in _ in the uk. meanwhile, the biggest immunisation drive in the - in the uk. meanwhile, the biggest immunisation drive in the history i in the uk. meanwhile, the biggestl immunisation drive in the history of the nhsjust keeps immunisation drive in the history of the nhs just keeps growing. this supermarket pharmacy near birmingham started offering covid jabs today to the over—755, one of more than 11100 vaccination sites in england alone. what a contrast in madrid, where supplies of vaccine have all but dried up.

the spanish capital has cancelled all appointments for around two weeks. the eu were slow off the mark in ordering vaccine, and now wants some of the uk's supply of astrazeneca doses. in may, the uk government was the first to sign a deal with astrazeneca for 100 million doses of its covid vaccine. it wasn't until august — three months later — that the european union signed an agreement for up to 400 million doses. last month, the uk's mhra became the first regulator in the world to approve the oxford astrazeneca jab. tomorrow, the european medicines agency is meeting and is expected to approve the vaccine, but for the moment, it remains unlicensed in the eu. the astrazeneca vaccine is grown in

bioreactors. i've seen how complex the process is at this site in oxford. by contrast, there have been poor yields at the main european site in belgium. the eu is threatening legal action to force astrazeneca to hand over some doses made here. we can and will get doses of the vaccine from the series of plants which are mentioned in the contract, and therefore, also including those in the united kingdom. and now another twist — germany's vaccine committee has said the astrazeneca jab should, for now, only be given to people under 65 years old. it cited insufficient data over its efficacy in older people. the government here firmly rejects that. our own authorities have made it very clear that they think the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is very good and efficacious. they think that it is effective across all age groups and provides

a good immune response across all age groups. there is limited evidence on how well the astrazeneca vaccine works in the over—655, but leading scientists here say they are confident it will give strong protection. fergusjoins me now. more good news, another vaccine potentially novavax, how significant could that proved to be? , , ., ., , be? huge. this is already in the hands of the — be? huge. this is already in the hands of the medical— be? huge. this is already in the hands of the medical regulator, | be? huge. this is already in the - hands of the medical regulator, the mra chart —— the mhra, they began a rolling review of the uk trials of the novavax vaccine earlier this month and if, and they have to prove it's safe and effective, if they approve it then it will be produced here and it will put rocket boosters under the uk vaccine programme which

is already outstripping most of europe. so it's brilliant news and the fact that it's effective, highly effective against the uk variant and less so effective but still effective against the south african one, fantastic news. you effective against the south african one, fantastic news.— effective against the south african one, fantastic news. you are talking about the astrazeneca _ one, fantastic news. you are talking about the astrazeneca jab _ one, fantastic news. you are talking about the astrazeneca jab in - about the astrazeneca jab in germany, they are advising it not to be given to the over 655. should people here be worried if they have had it? , ., . , people here be worried if they have hadit? , . had it? there is no concerns about safe . in had it? there is no concerns about safety- in fact _ had it? there is no concerns about safety. in fact there _ had it? there is no concerns about safety. in fact there were - had it? there is no concerns about safety. in fact there were fewer i safety. in fact there were fewer side effects in older people who received the oxford a5trazeneca vaccine in the trials. this is about effectivene55. now, there isn't much effectivene55. now, there isn't much effectivene55 data from the trials, but what the medical regulator and the scientists at oxford and those who advi5e the scientists at oxford and those who advise the government all said was the immune responses of the elderly were so strong and so similar to younger adults that the vaccine 5hould similar to younger adults that the vaccine should be effective. we'll get more data on that soon. there may be a bit of vaccine nationali5m here from the germans. they've

bought up extra 5upplie5 here from the germans. they've bought up extra supplies of the pfizer biontech vaccine developed in germany and they will use that for those aged 65 and over.— those aged 65 and over. fergus walsh, those aged 65 and over. fergus walsh. thank — those aged 65 and over. fergus walsh, thank you. _ france, portugal and germany areju5t some of the eu member 5tate5 struggling to get hold of enough vaccine 5upplie5. vaccination5 are having to be postponed before the roll—out has really begun. germany'5 health minister says the country's facing a shortage well into april, and warned of at least ten tough week5 ahead. jenny hill reports on the difficulties germany is facing. a waiting room without any patients. a vaccination centre without any vaccine. germany relied on the eu to place its order5, a decision which may have come at a cost. translation: we really feel it here. people keep asking us why we haven't been vaccinated yet. at the end of the day, these are political decisions which i have to accept, but i am looking forward to the time when we have enough vaccine and can get on with it.

no touri5t5 now for city guide tere5ia. immunity would bring life back to marburg'5 5treet5, restart the german economy. butju5t 2% of the population have had their first dose of the vaccine so far. even so, she tells us, it was right for the eu to order vaccine together. if everyone in germany get5 vaccinated but not people in the countries around it, then the plague come5 back over the border. if we do it, we should do it together, even if we have to wait. months of restrictions here appear to be paying off. germany'5 infection rates are now falling, but there's real concern about the impact of new variant5, like those di5covered in britain or south africa. and while the german government has pledged to offer every citizen a vaccination by the end of the summer, that'5 starting to look like a very hard promise to keep. so far, germany'5 relied on the pfizer/biontech vaccine. the manufacturer has announced delay5. though a new production

site here in marburg is expected to boost output. supplie5, too, are expected from moderna, and, if approved and on time, a5trazeneca, though germany may only give it to the under—655. we want to know what took so long. we want to know which member states were rather reluctant in ordering together and which member states said, hey, let's go forward. i think it would have been a great sign from germany, as the economically 5tronge5t member state, to say, hey, if it's a question of money, we willju5t say 10 billion euros on the table to get things going. marburg'5 vaccination centre, clo5ed now, though they expect supplies to arrive next week. no one's quite sure what happens after that, and even the german government warned today the next ten weeks will be tough. jenny hill, bbc news, marburg. the latest government figures show there were 28,680

new coronaviru5 infection5 recorded in the latest 24—hour period. on average the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 28,584 — a big fall since the start of the month. across the uk, an average of almost 37,000 people were in hospital with coronaviru5 over the seven days to sunday — including suspected cases in wales. 1,239 deaths were reported — that'5 people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19te5t. on average in the past week, 1,221 deaths were announced every day. the total number of deaths so far across the uk i5103,126. half those people have died since the start of november. the uk'5 ma55 vaccination5 programme continues, though it appears to have slowed in the past week. 282,812 people have had theirfir5t dose of one of the three approved

covid—19 vaccines in the latest 24—hour period, taking the overall number of people who've had their fir5tjab to more than 7.4 million. bori5john5on 5ay5 endle55 talk about a scottish independence referendum is completely irrelevant while the uk battles the pandemic. the prime minister was speaking on a visit to scotland today. the snp said his trip was not essential during a national lockdown and said he was panicking, a5 opinion polls indicate declining support for the union. our scotland corre5pondent lorna gordon report5. from the lighthouse covid te5ting lab in glasgow... and you are doing 85,000 tests a day? ..to a community vaccination centre being set up with the help of the army... ..to this vaccine manufacturing plant, there is no mi5taking the message the prime minister was sending — with growing talk of another vote on scotland'5 future, bori5john5on was here to emphasise what he believes are the benefits of the country remaining united.

i think in this talk about a referendum, without any clear description of what the constitutional 5ituation will be after that referendum is completely irrelevant now to the concerns of most people, who i think want us to beat thi5 pandemic and come through 5trongly together. but that con5titutional question does loom large. there is an election to holyrood in three month5' time and the snp are riding high in the polls. today, they questioned whether the prime minister's trip was essential travel. people are really asking why is the prime minister coming to scotland on a day trip? of course, we've got the situation that there is a marked difference in the approval rating of the first minister, who has shown true leadership in this crisis in scotland, and what we have seen with the prime minister. and i think people are just reflecting on that. the pandemic dominate5 daily life and conversation here in scotland but questions about the country's future haven't gone away.

whether or not scotland should become an independent country is the fault line in scottish politic5. and every poll 5incejune has suggested more people would vote yes to scottish independence than no. there is no doubt the union is under as much pressure as it has been, frankly, during the 300 years of its existence. there's been a very clear rise in support for independence. two principal rea5on5. one, the pursuit of brexit, which is unpopular in scotland. and, two, the perception, more widespread perception that nicola sturgeon has handled the coronaviru5 pandemic much more effectively than the prime minister. the taxi drivers at one location the prime minister vi5ited today said they were grateful for government help to pay their bills during the pandemic but had divided view5 on those in charge. without a doubt, nicola sturgeon. why'5 that? she's got her prioritie5 right. he'5 breaking his own rules. he'5 up here glory grabbing. i think he is welcome, if he wants to come and visit.

as far as i'm concerned, this is the united kingdom, so... he is as welcome here as he is anywhere else. bori5john5on has repeatedly stated his opposition to another referendum on independence. uk approval is needed for any vote but the snp 5ay if they win may'5 election, they will still pass legislation to allow for it once the covid crisis is over. a possible fight in the courts over this and a renewed battle over scotland'5 future beckon5. laura gordon, bbc news, gla5gow. let'5 let's go to westminster and our political editor laura kuen55berg. how worried i5 political editor laura kuen55berg. how worried is the westminster government about the state of the union? , , . ., . union? there will be rising concern not 'ust in union? there will be rising concern not just in the _ union? there will be rising concern notjust in the tory _ union? there will be rising concern notjust in the tory government - union? there will be rising concern| notjust in the tory government but notju5t in the tory government but also in the other parties, labour, the lib dems, who want the countries of the uk to stay together forever. that ri5ing concern is matched with a rising determination to do something to try to counter the arguments of the snp but quite what

that something is when you ask it gets a little bit trickier. the snp i5 gets a little bit trickier. the snp is the third bigge5t party in westminster but they are by far and we5tmin5ter but they are by far and away the most dominant force in scottish politic5. and it looks like scotti5h politic5. and it looks like they are set to do very well in those crucial election5 they are set to do very well in those crucial elections in may. we tho5e crucial elections in may. we know if that happens they will try to push a5 know if that happens they will try to push as soon as they can for another vote on independence. we know if the prime minister is determined to a no to that request, as he has the legal right to do, the concern amongst as he has the legal right to do, the concern among5t unioni5t5 i5 as he has the legal right to do, the concern among5t unioni5t5 is what would then happen is a really fraught period of constitutional wrangling and argument between edinburgh and westminster, continued attempt5 edinburgh and westminster, continued attempts by the snp to try to get the vote 5omehow. it'5 attempts by the snp to try to get the vote 5omehow. it's worth 5aying the vote 5omehow. it's worth saying the vote 5omehow. it's worth saying the snp are not on the same page about the best thing to do in that situation. but there is a fear among 5ituation. but there is a fear among unioni5t5 that you'd end up in a very me55y, unhappy 5ort unioni5t5 that you'd end up in a very me55y, unhappy sort of situation where the argument was far

from 5ettled. there is a view that is a problem in that circum5tance, is a problem in that circumstance, that it might not be sustainable but there isn't anything like a clear view of a solution to try to stop that happening and number 10 know5 that happening and number 10 knows very well they are trying to seek opportunitie5 very well they are trying to seek opportunities to underline the relevance to the uk government to voters in scotland but they know that 5eeing bori5 voters in scotland but they know that 5eeing boris johnson voters in scotland but they know that 5eeing bori5john5on in a lab coat on a one—day vi5it cannot be the answer alone. coat on a one-day visit cannot be the answer alone.— coat on a one-day visit cannot be the answer alone. laura kuenssberg, thank ou. the out5poken kremlin critic alexei navalny ha5 denounced his continued detention, calling it "demon5tratively illegal", after his appeal to be freed from jail was rejected by a judge in moscow. mr navalny was detained ten days ago, accused of failing to comply with a suspended 5entence. tens of thousands of ru55ian5 took to the streets at the weekend in support of mr navalny, who says he was the target of an assassination attempt last august. steve ro5enberg report5. from in5idejail via video link,

the kremlin'5 mo5t ferociou5 critic demanded hi5 freedom. alexei navalny told the court his arrest was illegal, an attempt to scare him and his supporters. it wouldn't work, he added, "we are the majority". the judge di5mi55ed his appeal. more pre55ure. police raiding mr navalny�*5 anti—corruption organi5ation. it had posted this video of mr navalny accu5ing vladimir putin of building himself a £1 billion palace with illicit money. the kremlin'5 denied it but the video'5 had nearly 100 million views in a week. palace5 and political battle5. what are ru55ian5 making of all of this out5ide mo5cow? tver i5100 miles away. last weekend, there were prote5t5 here and across ru55ia in support of mr navalny. and against president putin.

police broke them up. among those detained wa5 pavel. it was the first time he'd taken part in a protest. a lot of people, pavel says, have watched that video about the palace and believe it. we did nothing wrong. we were prote5ting peacefully. prote5t 5entiment was already on the rise here. an economic slowdown made worse by the pandemic has hit ru55ian5 hard, and shaken people'5 faith in their pre5ident. putin'5 not the leader he was, 5ay5 yevgenya. prices in the shops keep ri5ing, he must have something to do with this. the president's lo5ing popularity, 5ay5 yulyana. this won't end well for him. you can put a political opponent behind bars. one thing you can't do, though, is lock away, put out of sight the public mood.

and the kremlin'5 problem is that with the economy here in difficulty, ru55ian5 feel that life is getting tougher. and that means growing di55ati5faction with the authorities. but the kremlin has this warning — illegal prote5t bring5 chao5. the last thing ru55ia needs, it says, is another russian revolution. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tver. let's take a look at some of today's other news. mo5t pupils in northern ireland will not return to school until monday, 8th march, at the earliest. first minister arlene fo5ter said the ongoing public health situation meant remote learning must continue. even then it may only be certain year groups who are able to go back. the 5tationery chain, papercha5e, has been bought out of administration in a deal re5cuing up to 90 of it5127 5tore5. around 1,000 jobs will be saved at the company which saw 5ale5 plummet during the pandemic.

but more than 200 jobs will still go. the government has announced plans to end the badger cull to tackle tuberculosis in cattle. the highly controversial strategy has seen an estimated 100,000 animal5 killed since it was introduced in 2013. badger5 can help to spread bovine tb, which last year led to the slaughter of almost 30,000 cattle. two men who organised a mass 5nowball fight during lockdown have each been fined £10,000. hundred5 gathered in a leed5 park when heavy snow carpeted the city earlier this month. police said they put people at "a significant and completely unnecessary risk". there will be a vote on the cladding crisis in parliament on monday. the labour motion urges the government to do more to protect millions of lea5eholder5 from the cost of replacing flammable cladding on flat5. three and a half years after the grenfell fire, the majority of blocks identified with dangerou5 cladding

are still un5afe. lea5eholder5 are having to pay thousands of pounds in the meantime for fire safety patrols and other temporary mea5ure5. sarah corker�*5 been speaking to the first person to declare bankruptcy because of those 5piralling co5t5. i've always wanted to be a homeowner before i'm 30. so when i did, at 27, iju5t felt like i'd won the lottery. and the last thing you think is you're going to be bankrupt at 28. from fine to disaster, for me, it was a matter of months. hayley bought a one bedroom flat in leeds in 2019, butju5t six months later she was told flammable cladding and other fire safety fault5 had been found on the building. it didn't for one second occur to me that they could sell me something that's a death trap and completely un5uitable. you just don't think that anyone would ever build a flat or a home out of something that could go up

into smoke that quickly. then the bills started to arrive. my service charge went up, my insurance went up, my wage didn't go up. i'd actually been made redundant pre—pandemic. flat owners were forced to pay for round—the—clock warden5, known as waking watch. my mortgage payments was 330 a month, and the waking watch was actually 300. and it's just been a complete nightmare. last month, hayley left. her money had run out. i declared my5elf bankrupt, so i handed my keys to my mortgage lender and accepted my fate, really. i feel like, now going forwards, the rest of my future'5 ruined. tho5e future years are also gone, and there are thousands and thousands of people just like me, on a similar income in a similar problem.

hayley�*5 now temporarily living in her dad'5 spare room while she looks for work. i have neverfelt 5o insignificant, and so unimportant and powerle55 as i have this year. just when you think you've hit rock bottom, you find there'5 another layer to this. i didn't build the building, i didn't choose any cladding, and now i'm going to be 5kint forever. hayley tillot5on ending that report from our consumer affairs corre5pondent sarah corker. gamestop — it's an american high street 5hop 5elling video games and consoles. major hedge funds had bet billions of dollars that gamestop'5 5hare5 would fall. but over the past three days its share price 5uddenly 5oared, increasing by more than 700% inju5t a week. it was all down to social media as amateur investors were encouraged by posts on the popular onlnie forum reddit to buy up 5tock. but today the share

place fell sharply. that's because trading platforms in the us placed restrictions on the stock. it'5 led to accusations that interests of wall street are being put before those of individual trader5. our new york bu5ine55 corre5pondent michelle flueryjoin5 me now. thi5 this has all cau5ed turmoil on the markets. it this has all caused turmoil on the markets. . . , this has all caused turmoil on the markets. . ., , markets. it certainly has. wall street has _ markets. it certainly has. wall street has been _ markets. it certainly has. wall street has been on _ markets. it certainly has. wall street has been on a - markets. it certainly has. wall- street has been on a roller-coaster street has been on a roller—coa5ter ride. it'5 street has been on a roller—coa5ter ride. it's all because of the power of social media and they havoc it has wrought thi5 of social media and they havoc it has wrought this week on the ha5 wrought this week on the financial market. what we have seen is a group of essentially wall street out5ider5 who have taken on institutional investors and it has centred around an unprofitable, 5omewhat unloved video game retailer, gamestop. some of these big profe55ional hedge fund inve5tor5 had bet the share price would go down. but what happened, as you saw this 5crappy group of individual investors, u5ing nothing more than a keyboard and access to

the internet, as well as 5timulu5 check5 the internet, as well as 5timulu5 checks to try to buy up the stock and push up the price. that led to some very hefty lo55e5 and push up the price. that led to some very hefty losses for these players, and quite a lot of egg on theirface5. and it has caught players, and quite a lot of egg on their faces. and it has caught the attention notju5t of those on wall street but in washington where regulator5 street but in washington where regulators are looking into this and where people are seeing this as in some ways a popular upri5ing again5t some ways a popular upri5ing against the financial e5tabli5hment. thank the financial establishment. thank ou, the financial establishment. thank you. michelle- _ scotland'5 5pending plans for the coming year have been outlined in the scottish parliament today. worker5 will pay less income tax according to the draft budget and extra cash will be given to local authorities. the budget include5 £1.1 billion of spending onjob5 and employment 5upport, extra money for the health service to tackle the covid—19 pandemic, and more funds for education. our scotland corre5pondent alexandra mackenzie report5. hello! use your thumb to keep her foot nice and flat on the gauge. kerrie guiney hoped today'5 draft

budget would be the perfect fit for her retail businesses in peeble5 in the scottish borders. i have some shoes to try. with both of her 5hop5 clo5ed, she is being 5ocially di5tanced 5hoe fitting5, like this one with one—year—old imogen. she had hoped bu5ine55 rate5 relief would be extended for longer than three months. we need help and support for at least the next year onward5 just to get us back up and running, to keep our high 5treet5... keep our high 5treet5 going. delivering her second budget, kate forbe5 said she couldn't make that commitment without additional funding from the uk government. i know how crucial this year's targeted 100% relief from nondomestic rates has been to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. the extension of this relief to avoid a cliff edge in support was the number one asked of businesses. the scottish torie5 said there had been unprecedented 5upport from the uk trea5ury.

the budget for the coming year will be the highest in the history of devolution. giving the scottish government more money to spend than at any previou5 point in history. and all this is possible because of the broad shoulders of the uk government. nur5e5 have been on the front line of the covid pandemic. today, there was a pay increase for public sector workers, 3% for the lowest paid, 1% for others. the offer that has been put forward today through the budget is an absolute insult to public service workers, who have gone above and beyond over the past year, during this covid pandemic. but not only the covid pandemic, at any time. the finance secretary said that, despite these challenging times, this budget, which will be voted on in march, look5 toward5 economic recovery. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. football and liverpool got their premier league title

defence back on track tonight after a series of poor results with a convincing 3—1win at tottenham. natalie pirk5 watched the action. a 5tuttering start, a lack of energy and zero goal5 — yeah, liverpool's league form this year is pretty much all of us right now. and it looked like son had made things much worse for them 5traightaway. as he wheeled away in celebration though, var drew the dreaded line. off5ide by a heel. there was no time to draw breath. mane looked menacing and on the stroke of half—time liverpool finally made their pre55ure count. firmino coming in, there's the goal. their first league goal of 2021 was 5wiftly followed by their second, 5econd5 into the second half. with harry kane off injured tottenham needed to respond very quickly, and boy, did hojbjerg get the memo. what a way to score your first goal for the club. this was frenetic. mo salah thought he'd 5cored, but var ruled it out for handball. liverpool though were unperturbed and mane got the goal he deserved. fini5hed off by sadio

mane brilliantly. 3—1 liverpool then, and in a season of twists and turns, the champions look to be getting their groove back. natalie pirk5, bbc news. a 93—year—old holocau5t 5urvivor received his first covid jab from an army medic this week. it struck a chord, as the photo of his vaccination was shared thousands of times on social media. our special corre5pondent, lucy manning has the story. the tattoo on his arm 5how5 93—year—old her5chel her5hkovitz�*5 faced death many times before. hi5 au5chwitz number. given a chance this week to extend life again, when vaccinated by a young british army medic, private maddy oliver. her5chel lo5t 5even 5ibling5. he 5urvived concentration camps, the death marche5. still a teenager, he lost his sight from typhu5 after liberation and survived covid last month. now he has some protection.

his son, david, took the photo, which has been shared ten5