you're watching bbc news with me, tim willcox. the headlines at two... a pledge that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly — a month ahead of schedule. it's because of the success of the vaccine rollout that we are able to do that and that will have an impact on how quickly we will all be able to return to normal, which is obviously what everyone wants to see. borisjohnson meets ministers and scientific advisers to put the final touches to plans to bring england out of lockdown. air emergency above the us state of colorado — but the passenger plane lands safely to the relief of crew and passengers. my daughter was sitting on the window, and i was just like, "don't look! let's close it up and let's just pray."

so that is what we did. wejust held hands and said some prayers. the dj jo whiley says it "couldn't be crueller" that her sister, who has learning difficulties and diabetes, was offered the vaccine after she was already "fighting for her life" with covid. the medical professionals, who are doing an amazing job, just aren't equipped, because it's all so new. they don't know how people with a learning disability are going to react in this situation, which is why it makes such sense to just get them vaccinated. and a pioneering breakthough for children needing a heart transplant — a machine that keeps hearts beating outside the body for up to 12 hours. good afternoon. the prime minister has promised that all adults in the uk will be

offered their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly. so far, more than 17 million people have already had a jab — that's around one in three adults. the vaccines offer protection against the two most commonly found variants in the uk — but it's not clear yet how they work against the south african variant. a single case of that strain has been confirmed in brentwood in essex and surge testing is now being expanded there. our health correspondent laura foster reports. more than 17 million people in the uk have been given their first dose of the covid vaccine, offering some form of protection against this deadly virus. but we are only a third of the way there. what is critical, of course, is that as many people as possible are vaccinated because the more who are vaccinated, the more individuals are protected and the more society as a whole is protected. so for all those reasons i encourage everybody to come forward when you get that invite and get yourjab

as soon as possible. the next phase is to protect the over 50s, and anyone with an eligible underlying health condition by the middle of april, that's two weeks earlier than originally planned. and the latest promise is to offer the vaccines to all adults by the end ofjuly. the vaccines offer protection against the two most commonly found variants in the uk, but it's not yet clear how they work with others. everyone in brentwood in essex is now being asked to take a covid test after the south african variant was detected there. we do not yet have the confidence that the vaccine is as effective against the south africa variant and the variant first seen in brazil. but we do think that the measures that we have taken, both the enhanced contact tracing really clamping down when you see one of these, and the measures at the border are reducing those new variants here. scientists say that it's important to keep transmission low to stop new variants from appearing.

it is certainly a risk if we allow high rates of infection in certain parts of the communities, younger individuals, then we do run the risk of further mutations occurring, which could reduce the effectiveness of the vaccination programme. but even when you get yourjab, there are key things to remember. vaccines don't work immediately, it takes weeks after your first dose before protection kicks in, and it will take months to vaccinate us all. laura foster, bbc news. well, the prime minister has said vaccinating more people sooner will help further ease lockdown rules across the country. borisjohnson has been meeting senior government members and advisers to discuss plans to ease restrictions. tomorrow he will reveal what's been decided. but what could the "road map" out of lockdown involve? our political correspondentjessica parker has been taking a look. change is coming, though the government says it won't spring up all of a sudden.

that as the vaccine roll—out is speeding up, but to what effect? there are signs that the numbers in hospital are falling much more sharply than they were in the first wave and there's further analysis to be done on that. but clearly, the level is still far too high. that's why the prime minister will be setting out a road map. we can't lift the measures right now. but we can see that direction of travel. so in parliament tomorrow, england's road map will finally be unveiled. ministers in scotland, wales and northern ireland set their own plans. it's already known that limited indoor care home visits in england can resume in just over two weeks. downing street has also said it will look to prioritise more outdoor social contact. on schools, some teaching unions have called for a phased return. but the labour leader says ideally all students should be back on march the 8th.

i've been worried through the pandemic, a number of people have, about the impact of being out of school has on vulnerable children and the attainment gap is getting bigger. so ideally the 8th of march. we'll have to see where the data is, see where the science is, but that is where we should be working towards. if that means more testing, if that means nightingale classrooms, if it means other measures, let's do that. ministers are emphasising caution. nearly a year on since the first lockdown was announced here, the journey has, so far, already often been unpredictable. dr zubaida haque is a member of the independent sage group of scientists and the former interim director of the runnymede trust, a race equality thinktank. thanks forjoining us. all adults to be vaccinated byjuly, but is good news and presumably that will speed up news and presumably that will speed up the road map as it is described

out of lockdown. it is up the road map as it is described out of lockdown.— out of lockdown. it is fantastic news. it out of lockdown. it is fantastic news- it is _ out of lockdown. it is fantastic news- it is a — out of lockdown. it is fantastic news. it is a fantastic- out of lockdown. it is fantastic i news. it is a fantastic testimony out of lockdown. it is fantastic - news. it is a fantastic testimony to science and the nhs that we vaccinated i7 science and the nhs that we vaccinated 17 million people, it is incredible news, but we mustn't relax. the problem is, vaccination, while absolutely required, is not the whole answer to the problem, and thatis the whole answer to the problem, and that is because vaccination, whilst preventing severe disease, we are not entirely sure whether it stops transmission, so we still need a lot of restrictive measures do not only bring down cases but to make sure that they stay down, and that is because unless we keep cases low, circulating virus, high rates of circulating virus, high rates of circulating virus, high rates of circulating virus means there could be more mutation of the virus and more mutation of the virus might lead to a vaccine resistant virus. we have still got a long way to go with the vaccination. isn’t we have still got a long way to go with the vaccination.— with the vaccination. isn't there some evidence _ with the vaccination. isn't there some evidence already - with the vaccination. isn't there l some evidence already emerging suggesting the vaccines to prevent

transmission?— transmission? there is some tentative _ transmission? there is some tentative evidence, - transmission? there is some tentative evidence, but - transmission? there is some tentative evidence, but it - transmission? there is some tentative evidence, but it is i transmission? there is some - tentative evidence, but it is early days yet, tim. we have still got the rest of the population, some two thirds of the population to vaccinate and we haven't even really talked about children being vaccinated, because that is also quite important. we don't vaccinate children, then we are still going to have high rates of coronavirus circulating and that still might bring back more mutant cases, more mutant viruses, which means once again that the vaccine might not be as resistant, so we need to make sure that all the cases come down and they stay down. at the moment what independent are asking the to do is notjust rely on the vaccination programme but have suppression virus measures that keep the virus down. 50 suppression virus measures that keep the virus down-— the virus down. so you would support the virus down. so you would support the government _ the virus down. so you would support the government in _ the virus down. so you would support the government in terms _ the virus down. so you would support the government in terms of- the virus down. so you would support the government in terms of the - the government in terms of the briefings we have had about these dates for relaxation to be

aspirational dates because they are going to have to rely on the data as well, and just on schools, if i may, do you think it was a mistake to get all schools open again on march the 8th or should that be staggered? first of all i want to say it shouldn't be about dates, it should be about data. and how you open up safely so that everyone is safe. we know first of all from sage, from london school of tropical medicine and imperial college and awareness and imperial college and awareness and others that we can't open everything up all at once. we saw what happens when you do that last september. this is our third lockdown. we cannot have another lockdown. we cannot have another lockdown. so first of all what we need to do is think about how we are going to do it. with schools what we need to think about is at the moment there is only 20% of primary school children in school, and yet they have the highest rates of prevalence with covid cases at the moment. that

is just with 20% of schools so imagine what would happen if you introduce might reintroduce approximately 10 million children and school workforce all at once on march the 8th. we have already heard from sage that that is likely to keep r above one. so we need to think about whether it is phased re—entry of different years for primary or secondary or whether we have a rotor class —based system where we have classes coming in one week and then another or half the class coming in another way, some kind of rota system so that older children can come back, but not everybody is in school at the same time. the other thing i want to mention is we need to talk about safer school environments, safer working environments, and at the moment the government have not said very much about how they are going to ensure that schools stay open. one way of doing that is to have

safer schools with smaller classes, better ventilation, more mask wearing among primary and secondary schoolchildren. dr wearing among primary and secondary schoolchildren.— schoolchildren. dr zubaida haque, thank ou schoolchildren. dr zubaida haque, thank you very _ schoolchildren. dr zubaida haque, thank you very much _ schoolchildren. dr zubaida haque, thank you very much indeed. - schoolchildren. dr zubaida haque, thank you very much indeed. we l schoolchildren. dr zubaida haque, i thank you very much indeed. we will find out more tomorrow. boris johnson due to present a road map at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon and then a tv address at seven. all of that will be carried here. lorry drivers returning to france from britain will not now need to have a coronavirus test if they have spent less than 48 hours in the country. transport secretary grant shapps tweeted that he'd "agreed more flexibility in testing for hauliers" — and that the change would come into effect from 11pm tonight. france demanded in december that lorry drivers must carry a negative test result to reduce the spread of a more infectious coronavirus variant detected in kent. debris from a united airlines passengerjet, which suffered an engine failurejust after take—off, has landed on a residential area in the us state of colorado. the boeing 777 was flying from denver to honolulu

when the accident happened. it was able to return safely and land, and there have been no reported injuries. mark lobel reports. the chilling view from inside united airlines flight 832 moments after takeoff from denver, when its right engine catches fire. some of the 231 passengers using their phones to film what could be their last flight. others nervously texting loved ones goodbye. you could just feel it, like, boom. and you could hear it. and we just started shaking. we were right on the wing, so i looked out and i could see some smoke coming and ijust knew, you know? my daughter was sitting on the window and i was like, don't look! let's close it up and let's just pray. so that's what we did, we kind ofjust held hands and said some prayers. as the boeing 777 destined for hawaii suddenly circles back for an emergency landing... why don't we get going, because

these things are just falling? ..parts of the plane were raining down on the city of broomfield. landing in the parks, streets and on people's front lawns. this casing was meant to be keeping the plane's engine free from ice, and literally weighs a tonne. it initially struck this pickup truck with its ownerjust metres away. a lot of people said they heard that really loud explosion, which scared a lot of people, then they started seeing basically what they thought was a plane falling from the sky. what it was, was debris. it's hard to determine exactly what it is. i did comb through, i was taking a look at some of the debris, it looks like possibly some exterior pieces of the plane. this whole town is now effectively behind police lines. only residents are permitted to enter. investigators are requesting that debris is left alone. america's national transportation safety board has opened an investigation into what they are calling an "engine event."

for all those who were onboard and on the ground below, it's certainly an event none of them will ever be likely to forget. mark lobel, bbc news. a nigerian airforce plane has crashed while approaching the runway at abuja airport. there are reports of seven fatalities. this eyewitness described what she saw. it is very painful. when the plane just landed, ijust see... when i heard one, exploding and fire and smoke together. i saw a dead body and on the ground. i'm joined now by ishaq khalid who's in the nigerian capital abuja. what more details are emerging? sr

far we have gathered to seven people were on board the military aircraft and all of them have died as a result of the crash. the aircraft was actually going to the north—central city and then there was an engine problem, they returned to the nigerian capital airport. it hit the runway and then crashed and went into flames. all the people on board have died. the authorities are saying that investigation is taking place. where i am now isjust a saying that investigation is taking place. where i am now is just a few hundred kilometres from the crash site and the military have already cordoned off the area. they are searching and contacting investigation. d0 searching and contacting investigation.— searching and contacting investigation. searching and contacting investiuation. ~ ., ., investigation. do we know who the eo - le investigation. do we know who the peeple were _ investigation. do we know who the peeple were on — investigation. do we know who the people were on board? _ investigation. do we know who the people were on board? all - investigation. do we know who the people were on board? all the - investigation. do we know who the i people were on board? all the people on board were — people were on board? all the people on board were military _ people were on board? all the people on board were military personnel. - on board were military personnel. they were going to niger state. we don't know... there was a lot of

insecurity, a lot of criminal gangs carrying out attacks, kidnapping for ransom. on wednesday dozens of students were abducted in that state including their staff. we don't know whether this mission was there to post to ongoing rescue operation for those abducted victims, but that is where it was going. the authorities are saying they wanted to give details about the plane and course of the crash, but this is not the first time the nigerian air force aircraft has crashed. a few years ago, there were two crashes in the north—eastern part of the country, where they were fighting boko haram. many civilians were killed at that point. many people are now asking questions about the condition of nigerian search aircraft and the authorities are saying they're going to carry out investigations and will come up with their own findings. thank you for that update. the headlines on bbc news...

there's a new promise that every adult in the uk will be offered their first dose of coronavirus vaccine by the end ofjuly — a month ahead of schedule. borisjohnson is due to hold a final meeting with senior ministers and scientific advisers about how to ease england's lockdown — ahead of tomorrow's announcement of a roadmap out of restrictions. a passengerjet has scattered debris over a residential area near denver after one of its engines failed on take—off. israel is easing many of its covid lockdown restrictions from today. nearly half of the country's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. gyms, hotels and tourist attractions are re—opening, but entry will only be allowed to those with a green pass, which shows they've either had the jab or the virus. nickjohnson reports.

beer to persuade some. pizza to persuade others. israel's programme to get covid jabs in arms continues at pace. the country has the highest vaccination rate in the world, more than 49% of people have had at least one dose. it is all part of the national effort to break free from this new normal. shops and restaurants closed, an economy at risk, people's lives on hold. after a steep resurgence in covid infections, the country entered its third lockdown just after christmas. but health officials say progress in their vaccination programme is now starting to make a difference in the number of infections, allowing the country to begin reopening its economy. studies in israel showed that the pfizer vaccine is 95.8% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths. from today, shops, libraries and tourist attractions are able to reopen, but social distancing

and masks will still be required. we do need to hurry up and get everyone on board the vaccination programme because with all of those variants rising their heads, we could be facing other setbacks in the future and we need to hurry up with community immunity. but in order to be allowed into shops, museums and libraries, israelis will have to download a so—called green badge to carry around as proof of inoculation. announcing the scheme last night, prime minister benjamin netanyahu urged israelis to use it. as israel begins to ease restrictions, it is hoped the country's so—far successful vaccination programme of work as a blueprint for other countries hoping to begin their own journeys out of lockdown.

a funeral has taken place in myanmar for a young woman who has become a national symbol of resistance to miltary rule. the military overthrew the elected government earlier this month. mya thwe thwe khaing died on friday after being shot during a protest against the coup. a hearse carrying her coffin was driven through the capital naypyidaw. thousands lined the streets to honour her, some making the three—fingered salutes used by demonstrators. across myanmar, protesters have taken to the streets again despite the previous day being the worst violence yet in weeks of protests. two demonstrators were killed in mandalay after police opened fire. the united nations, the united states, britain and france have strongly condemned the use of force by the authorities. here's nyein chan aye with the latest. the funeral service was held in the capital naypyidaw

for mya thwe thwe khaing, who was the first confirmed death from the anti—coup movement, after she was shot in the head last week and died on friday. the funeral was, so far, peaceful, despite thousands of mourners and supporters turning up to show their solidarity. in the meanwhile, the military regime arrested more people, including a famous actor called lu min, who was among the celebrities calling for all civil servants to take part in a nationwide civil disobedience movement. he was charged with incitement against the regime. now, nearly 600 people have been already arrested or charged, or sentenced under this regime, according to local rights groups. however, there is no sign of dying down in the anti—coup movement, and protesters have called

for a nationwide strikes on monday. some of the largest retail outlets have already declared a temporary shutdown tomorrow, and huge protests are expected again. this is nyein chan aye, bbc news, yangon. the duke of edinburgh has spent a fifth night in a london hospital. he was visited yesterday by his son, the prince of wales. prince charles spent around half an hour at the king edward vii hospital, before returning to his highgrove home in gloucestershire. prince philip, who's 99, was admitted to hospital on tuesday on the advice of his doctor after feeling unwell. police in birmingham are continuing to question two 15—year—old boys on suspicion of kidnap and theft. the boys were arrestedafter a car with two young children inside was taken from a driveway in the city. a police helicopter was involved in the search before the car was stopped on a road in the city centre. the boys — aged two and four —

were unharmed and reunited with their parents at the roadside. let's return to our main story — the rollout of the vaccine programme in the uk. the health secretary says the government has followed clinical guidance when prioritising the vaccine for certain groups. matt hancock has been responding to criticism, after the broadcaster and radio 2 presenterjo whiley said she was offered a vaccine before her sister who has learning disabilities and diabetes. the dj's sister, frances, has since tested positive for coronavirus after there was an outbreak in her care home. speaking on the andrew marr show, jo whiley said she would give up her vaccine for her sister "in a heartbeat". oh it's been the worst week of our lives, without a shadow of a doubt. 2a hours ago, we were talking palliative care and yesterday she rallied round and we are seeing her oxygen levels rise. so at the moment we have got hope. it is quite difficult to predict how

she will react to things like physically and emotionally. and that is the same with anyone with a learning disability. so going into hospital, the easiest thing that happens with everybody when you have got covid—i9, you are given oxygen. they couldn't do that with frances, because shejust couldn't tolerate it. she was petrified. she just would not allow anyone to put anything near herface. she had an incredible superhuman strength, you can't physically make her lay down. you can't do anything. and that is why her oxygen levels plummeted, that is why she ended up fighting for her life, because you couldn't do the most basic, simple think that you would do to try and get somebody through covid. and we were at our wits end. i was there at four o'clock in the morning just saying," how can we get oxygen into her?" and the medical professionals who were doing an amazing job just aren't equipped, because it is all so new. they don't know how people with a learning disability are going to react in the situation, which is why it makes such sense to just get them vaccinated as quickly as you possibly can to take away that problem, take away the burden on the nhs. just stop these people

coming into hospital who are absolutely petrified, they can't communicate that they are terrified, they don't know what is going on. they have no comprehension of what covid is and what is happening to them, and they are there, bewildered, in a hospital. just don't put them through that. stop everybody having to go through that whole experience. just keep them safe and protect these people, because they are so precious, they are so vulnerable and we should have looked after them a long time ago. edel harris is the chief executive of the learning disabilities charity mencap. she explained howjo whiley�*s decision to speak out had helped draw attention to the issue. we are so appreciative that in amongst the difficult time that the family are having just now with frances being in hospital that jo has been so willing to share her story and raise this really important issue. there is a general lack of understanding, sadly, about learning disability, notjust in the general population, but in wider society.

and i think what this story is highlighting is that even before we had heard the words coronavirus, that people with learning disabilities suffered huge health inequalities in this country, with 1,200 approximately people with a learning disability dying avoidably every year, when access to good quality health care would have saved them. and so what covid—19 has done is shone a really bright light on this most important and most pressing issue. and we are urging thejcvi and the government and whoever it is that makes the decision just to remove this arbitrary definition of severe and profound learning disability, because people who fall into that category are in group six for the vaccination. we're just asking them to include all people with a learning disability as being a priority for the vaccination. the data and the evidence is there to suggest that they are up to six times more likely to die if they contract covid, and then in addition all the issues

thatjo has raised so passionately there, about how traumatic going into hospital can be for someone with a learning disability. the uk has introduced a new heart transplant technique for children that re—animates a donor heart outside the body and can even repair any damage sustained by the organ during death. this programme, a collaboration between the royal papworth and great ormond street hospitals, significantly increased the number of such life—saving operations carried out in the uk last year. our health correspondent anna collinson has this report. just a year ago, one of these sisters had a failing heart and was put on an urgent transplant list. nice wave! freya heddington was warned she may have to wait up to two years. but thanks to a new programme it was just eight weeks. and within months she could start doing the things she loved most. i'm ecstatic that i got such an amazing gift of a heart.

but it's also upsetting to know that someone also died. a donor's family must be consented before surgery, as this training simulation shows. until a year ago, almost all paediatric heart transplants came from patients who had suffered brain death. their heart may beat but they will never wake up. life support is withdrawn and the heart is stopped and retrieved. but this new programme uses hearts which have been allowed to cease beating on their own after life support is withdrawn. as soon as this happens, the heart begins to deteriorate. by using this machine demonstrated here using red dye at the royal papworth hospital, doctors can effectively restart it and repair the damage. you would have the heart sitting with the connector at the top, the aorta. these tubes move blood through the heart which keeps it healthy for up to 12 hours, giving surgeons much more time to carry out checks, and even transport it to other locations. this organ care system is now used

by adult cardiac transplant centres across the uk. but 12 months ago, the team here in cambridge joined forces with great ormond street hospital to extend their world—leading service to children, and despite the pressures of the pandemic, treated six patients in 2020. in the adult world we doubled the amount of heart transplantation and we reduced the waiting time period. we had to do exactly the same thing for the paediatric recipients at the same time for both populations to reduce the mortality in the waiting list. and this is what we achieved. once retrieved, the hearts are delivered to great ormond street hospital for transplantation. children normally have to wait around two and a half times longer than adults for a new heart. for many of our transplant patients now, they are so sick that they have to wait in the hospital for their transplants, sometimes for six months, perhaps even over a year.

so not only is it reducing wait times but it is transplanting patients that otherwise would not get an organ. freya's family will never forget what they've been through, or the people and the machine that saved her life. it will always be there i in the back of our minds. but, you know, we know now she's got a lovely healthy heart _ and her future's bright. more on that on the website. now to get the weather. it was miles during my run this morning? —— mild. get used to it, it is mild for the time of year, in some areas very mild. but there is more rain on the way. this is where it is this afternoon, wales, the western side of england and northern england as well as we go through the next few hours. brightening up in east anglia and the south—east and bright all the while in scotland and northern ireland. the odd shower around, but

most places having a fine afternoon. for many, temperatures in double figures.