today at six — new guidance from the uk's medical regulator to address concerns about the oxford—astrazeneca jab and blood clots. people under the age of 30 will be offered an alternative vaccine — the health experts say they are acting out of utmost caution. this is a course change. it is based on a clinical preference, based on newly emerging data. it will be kept under very careful review. research shows nearly 80 people developed the blood clots — but that's out of 20 million doses of the astrazeneca jab. these vaccines are safe. they have saved many _ these vaccines are safe. they have saved many thousands _ these vaccines are safe. they have saved many thousands of - these vaccines are safe. they have saved many thousands of lives - these vaccines are safe. they have saved many thousands of lives and | saved many thousands of lives and people should come forward to get

theirjabs and we will make sure they get the rightjabs. the theirjabs and we will make sure they get the right jabs.- they get the right “abs. the new uuidance they get the right “abs. the new guidance is h they get the right “abs. the new guidance is not _ they get the right jabs. the new guidance is not expected - they get the right jabs. the new guidance is not expected to - they get the right jabs. the new. guidance is not expected to affect the timetable for the vaccine roll—out. for the first time brazil records more than 4,000 deaths in a single day — a new and contagious variant is being blamed. the man who had to go to the high court to get his jackpot winnings from the gambling company betfred. are we going to have to re—write the textbooks on physics? uk—funded scientists say there may be a new force of nature. coming up on sportsday later in the hour on the bbc news channel... after a difficult weekend on and off the pitch, thomas tuchel will be looking for a positive reaction from his chelsea team.

good evening, and welcome to the bbc news at six. the uk's top health experts have issued new guidance on the rollout of the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine. it follows growing evidence that in extremely rare cases people who've had the jab have developed blood clots. so what's the new guidance? people aged between 18 and 29 will be offered an alternative to the astrazeneca jab. those who've already had a first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine should go ahead and get the second. pregnant women and people with certain blood disorders should consult a doctor before taking the jab. the head of the medical regulator insisted that the benefits of taking the astrazeneca jab still far outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh looks at the evidence that has led to today's changes.

turn up, get yourjab. the message remains the same. but in future for the first time, the covid vaccine you receive will depend on your age. that's because evidence is emerging of a link between the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine and very rare blood clots. the uk regulator the mhra said up to the end of march there have been 79 cases of rare clubs with low platelets following a first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine. 19 people have died. that's out of 20 million who received the jab. that's one rare clot in every 250,000 vaccinations.— 250,000 vaccinations. these monitoring — 250,000 vaccinations. these monitoring systems - 250,000 vaccinations. these monitoring systems are - 250,000 vaccinations. these monitoring systems are now| 250,000 vaccinations. these - monitoring systems are now detecting a potential side effect of the covid—19 vaccine astrazeneca, in an extremely small number of people. the evidence is firming up. the balance of benefits and known risks of the vaccine is still very

favourable for the vast majority of people. favourable for the vast ma'ority of eo - le. , ., , favourable for the vast ma'ority of --eole. , . , ;;:: people. very few adults under 30 have died from _ people. very few adults under 30 have died from covid, _ people. very few adults under 30 have died from covid, so - people. very few adults under 30 have died from covid, so that - have died from covid, so that changes the risk—benefit balance from getting a vaccine. it's thought younger adults are at higher risk from gods after the astrazeneca jab. about one in every 100,000 doses. so they will be offered a different vaccine when their time comes. are you worried that this change of course might damage vaccine confidence, especially in the young? these are really carefully considered decisions, and it remains vitally important that people who are called back for their second dose come for it and it remains vitally important that all adults in the uk come forward for vaccination when they are offered at. the eumpean _ when they are offered at. the european medicines agency has come

to the same conclusion will slip there is a possible link between the astrazeneca vaccine and very rare blood clots. mostly in women under 60. several eu countries had already restricted the astrazeneca vaccine to older adults. france to those over 55. germinates of those over 60. scientists who analyse risk say this change of course should not put people off getting a vaccine. this vaccine is people off getting a vaccine. t�*u 3 vaccine is extraordinarily effective and it would be tragic if this led to distrust of this vaccine, even worse if it was for vaccines in generalfought worse if it was for vaccines in general fought covid because worse if it was for vaccines in generalfought covid because it worse if it was for vaccines in general fought covid because it has been shown to be amazingly effective. it is saved thousands of lives already. the effective. it is saved thousands of lives already-— lives already. the prime minister believes the _ lives already. the prime minister believes the path _ lives already. the prime minister believes the path to _ lives already. the prime minister believes the path to lifting - believes the path to lifting restrictions should not be disrupted. i restrictions should not be dimmed-— restrictions should not be disruted. , . , ., disrupted. i don't see any reason at this sta . e disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage are _ disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage are told _ disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage are told to _ disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage are told to think- disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage are told to think we - disrupted. i don't see any reason at this stage are told to think we need to deviate _ this stage are told to think we need to deviate from the road map, and we

are also_ to deviate from the road map, and we are also very — to deviate from the road map, and we are also very secure about our suriplv — are also very secure about our su -l . �* , ., are also very secure about our su .l _ �* , ., ., are also very secure about our su--l. �*, ., ., , supply. it's thought covid vaccines have already _ supply. it's thought covid vaccines have already prevented _ supply. it's thought covid vaccines have already prevented 6000 - supply. it's thought covid vaccines i have already prevented 6000 deaths in the uk, and they remain the key to ending lockdown and returning life to normal. ever since the first reports of blood clots being associated with the astrazeneca jab, there've been questions about what it means for the uk's vaccine programme and people's attitudes to it. 0ur health editor hugh pym looks at some of the issues that have been raised. lockdown is easing, the vaccination programme is going well. but today there has been a change of course, raising new questions. first, what is the risk with oxford—astrazeneca? it is lower the older you are, as the potential for serious illness with covid is weighed against potential harms from blood clots. the official advice is for anyone who has had a firstjab and four days or more after that gets severe headaches, blurred vision or certain other symptoms, should contact

a medical professional. a committee of europe's regulator, known as pr ac, to this conclusion. we know the benefits of the astrazeneca vaccine have been established. it prevents covid disease, it prevents hospitalisation and it prevents mortality. so in that respect prac feels that the overall benefits outweigh the risks. so will it delay the vaccine rollout? health officials say even with under 30s given a choice of alternative jabs, they're still course to offer all adults a first dose by the end ofjuly. so the road map should stay the same. although it does depend on supplies currently promised. of the vaccines currently in use, the government ordered 100 million doses of oxford—astrazeneca. though the rollout will slow down this month because of supply issues. from pfizer—biontech, it was a0 million.

and from moderna, 17 million doses, there are only a limited amount will come through this month. two more vaccines are being assessed by the regulator, the mhra. novavax, where there are 60 million doses on order, and janssen, 30 million doses. trials are ongoing with other vaccines where the government has made preliminary orders. so will confidence in the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine be affected? people in younger age groups we spoke to had varying opinions. i am a bit concerned to hear it because i'm 2a and i've already had my first dose of the astrazeneca vaccine. and i have my second dose booked in for a couple of weeks. it's one of those very rare cases. but it might happen, but it probably won't. the risk is probably, it's probably worth the risk, right? i'm still all for it. i'm going to do a little bit more research now into it, _ but i still think at this point - i would get the astrazeneca vaccine. officials say the benefits outweigh the risks for the vast majority of adults. it remains to be seen how people react.

hugh pym, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas is in westminsterfor us. we have just heard we havejust heard boris we have just heard borisjohnson speaking. it's a we havejust heard borisjohnson speaking. it's a reminder we have just heard borisjohnson speaking. it's a reminder that politically there is an awful lot riding on this vaccine programme. absolutely right. this comes at a really important time, because remember the uk has seen more than 126,000 deaths, one of the highest cumulative totals in the world, but we are at the stage now when our vaccine programme is also ahead of most countries in the world and we have seen in recent weeks how that has been contributing to bringing the pandemic under control. as we now move to exiting from our current lockdown, the government strategy is really built on this vaccine roll—out and they need to keep people coming forward is for first doses, second doses, though they are stressing that vaccine roll—out remains unchanged, just the advice for under 30s. the prime minister has been saying people should

continue to have confidence that these vaccines are highly effective. the leader of the opposition has been saying the same. what it does remind us of i think is how dependent we are on the vaccine programme and they continue to deliveries according to schedule the government expects.— deliveries according to schedule the government expects. damian, thank ou ve government expects. damian, thank you very much- _ let's take a look at the latest government coronavirus figures — there were 2,763 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period — which means that on average the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 3,072. across the uk an average of 3,536 people were in hospital with coronavirus over the seven days to 1 april. 45 deaths were reported, that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. on average in the past week, 31 deaths were announced every day. the total number of deaths so far across the uk is 126,927. the uk is continuing its programme

of mass vaccinations — and in the last 24—hour period, 85,227 people have had theirfirst dose, taking the overall number of people who've had their firstjab to 31,707,594. the number of people who've had their second dose of the vaccine in the latest 2a hour period is 186,793. that takes the overall number of people who've had their second jab to more than 5.6 million people. our medical editor fergus walsh is here with me. we have heard from the politicians, from our regulator here, we have heard from the eu regulator. just put all this into context for us. i put all this into context for us. 1 think the headline here is gary put all this into context for us. i think the headline here is gary than the detail. the risk here is very small. it is not proven yet. we will need further work to work out why

the astrazeneca jab seems to be causing these very rare bloods. two thirds of the gods had been in women. if we take the highest risk group, those in their 20s, women. if we take the highest risk group, those in their20s, a women. if we take the highest risk group, those in their 20s, a one in 100,000 risk of having one of these very rare clots. to put that in context, predominate their 20s, their risk of dying in a road accident is one in 100,000 every three months. i don't know any people in their 20s who wouldn't get into a car. even so, with that level of risk, they will be offered a different vaccine, pfizer or moderna most likely when the time comes and they don't seem to carry this level of risk. it's worth remaining that no medicine or vaccine is without any risk and it will be a tragedy if this but people of coming forward for their vaccine.— this but people of coming forward for their vaccine. fergus, thank you very much- — brazil has recorded more than 4,000 covid—related deaths in 24 hours for the first time,

as a more contagious variant of the virus fuels a surge in cases. hospitals are overcrowded and the health system is on the brink of collapse in many areas. 0ur science editor david shukman reports. even at night, the graveyards in brazil are busy. so huge are the losses from covid. and although the rate of deaths, given the size of the population, is not quite as bad as in the uk or italy, things are getting worse and medical staff are desperate that even now the message still isn't getting through. it is quite hard to understand the need for social distancing when you have a president that says that social distancing is bad. presidentjair bolsonaro president jair bolsonaro is presidentjair bolsonaro is getting a lot of the blame. from the start he has played down the virus and he keeps blocking local authorities from taking any action, so the disease is now out of control. a big

concern is a new variant, known as p1, which has now spread fast. the result is this, depressing picture of the rapid rise in the number of coronavirus deaths in brazil, with more than 1000 in the last 24 hours. behind much of this is that p1 variant which compared to others is more transmissible and seems to affect more younger people. it is thought the vaccines should still be effective against it. in any event the variant has spread to most of south america, including uruguay, peru and bolivia which has just close the border with brazil and got further than the touch colombia is dealing with hundreds of cases and there are four smaller numbers as far afield as japan, turkey, the uk and many other countries. and although vaccines are being given in brazil, they have reached only 8% of people and the fear is that the more infections there are anywhere in the world, the greater the chance for a

new, more challenging variants to emerge. david shukman, bbc news. the time is pretty much a quid pro six. 0ur time is pretty much a quid pro six. our top story don't new guidance has been issued on the link between astrazeneca vaccine and blood clots. there is a... coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on the bbc news channel... 0n the eve of the masters, we will have the very latest from augusta national. who will be challenging for the green jacket on a course that looks far more challenging than last year. some effects of the pandemic are obvious — others are largely unseen. after more than a year of lockdowns and social distancing, officialfigures reveal a growing and disturbing loss of well—being. 3.7 million people class themselves as "lonely" — that's over a million more

than last year. the report also found that areas with large numbers of young people, unemployment and high density living tend to be most affected. elaine dunkley reports from manchester. 0pened during the pandemic, the feel good club couldn't come at a more needy time. somewhere over here, when we are all laid back out again, is where our big talk table is going to go. it will be a signal to other people that you are here open to chatting to new people and making new friends. keira and her wife amy hope when their coffee house is fully reopened, it will feel like a home for those affected by loneliness and isolation. i think what the pandemic has taught us is that actually being open about those feelings and talking about them helps. the small moments where you meet friends and offload, i think that has become very apparent to people that those things that we kind of took for granted pre—pandemic are actually so important. people in busy towns and cities are often the loneliest.

and according to today's report, by the office for national statistics, a greater concentration of young people and high unemployment rates are majorfactors. 16 to 24—year—olds were four times more likely to say they had recently felt lonely compared to the over 75s. lonely young people turn into lonely adults. and if we don't talk about these things it becomes something that has a massive stigma around it. 16—year—old allon is a young carer and often feels isolated. claire has also experienced loneliness. i feel like the minute you say this person is a young person, they are always on the phone, they are talking to their friends, they are always connected. yes, i have my phone or maybe i text my friends. but doesn't mean i'm not lonely. lockdown, isolation and social distancing has intensified the public health issue of loneliness. jed usually djs in care homes but has been unable to because of the pandemic.

through the charity manchester cares, he has been able to connect with different age groups struggling with loneliness. many people don't even have a computer, you know, the older people. so i have been lucky enough to have a laptop and join in with activities. the older people welcome listening to a younger person's point of view. and in the opposite way the younger people like listening to the older people's tales, you know, of things gone by and in the past, what we used to do. for some people, lockdown has been the first experience of loneliness. for others, it has been a long—term problem. for those wanting to break the stigma, highlighting the issue offers hope. elaine dunkley, bbc news, in manchester. a man has won a high court case against a betting firm after it refused to pay a £1.7 million jackpot he won in an online casino. andrew green said he was devastated when betfred told him it would not pay out on his win in 2018 because of what it called a "defect" in the game.

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds has the details. for andy green it was the night of the big wins. 0ne after another, his luck held out. by the end, this was his jackpot. more than £1.7 million. so when you saw that figure on your phone, what was your reaction? i cried. just gobsmacked. i took screenshots of it to keep as a memory. not to keep as proof for three and half years in court! because betfred said the game had gone wrong. it wasn't paying up. he took another gamble and took betfred to court. what was going through your mind, what were the emotions? it's devastating. devastating. i felt like somebody had just put their hand down my throat and ripped my heart out.

the judge decided betfred's terms and conditions were not transparent orfair. andy will now receive around £2 million. i look at myself today and all the way through this as a small fish in a big pond. fighting a shark. but today proves that little fish has taken a big bite out of that shark! andy is celebrating. betfred has apologised for the delay, three and a half years, he experienced in receiving his money. tom symonds, bbc news, the high court. schools and colleges in england where students have reported incidences of sexual violence could be visited by inspectors from the regulator, 0fsted. the watchdog has announced it will visit "a sample of schools and colleges where cases have been highlighted". inspectors will assess how well schools respond, and support their pupils. it comes after more than 11,000 reports were posted on the everyone's invited website, where students can anonymously share their experiences of abuse.

in a month's time, nearly 50 million people will be able to vote in a range of elections across england, scotland and wales. parliamentary elections are being held in scotland and wales on may the 6th — along with voting for councils, mayors and police and crime commissioners in england. 0ur deputy political editor, vicki young, looks at what is happening and where. for more than a year, our lives have been dominated by the covid pandemic, and so has the political landscape. last year's elections had to be postponed, but on may the 6th, voters in parts of the uk will get a chance to give their verdict on how politicians handled the crisis. so, let's run through exactly what's happening. 129 msps will be elected to the scottish parliament. the snp currently hold the most seats, as you can see here. but they lost their outright majority last time. can nicola sturgeon�*s party do enough to govern on its own? and what difference might alex salmond's new alba party make?

it's already attracted some snp defectors. he says he's complementing the campaign for independence, but could it end up undermining the cause? the conservative and labour parties in scotland have new leaders keen to make an impact. it'll be a fascinating contest. now, 60 senedd members will be voted for in wales and, like scotland, anyone over 16 can vote. labour have been the largest party in all previous devolved welsh elections, and current leader mark drakeford hopes to repeat that this time. this is what happened in 2016. the conservatives and plaid cymru are used to fighting it out for second place. and what will happen to those seven ukip seats? six of them have since left the party. elsewhere, there's the vote for london mayor, along with the 25 members of the london assembly, with more than 6 million eligible to vote in the capital.

there are votes for seven combined authority mayors and five metropolitan mayors. thousands of council seats are up for grabs in 143 english local authorities. local issues are important to many voters, but this will give us a snapshot of the national mood, too. it'll be the first test of borisjohnson�*s handling of the pandemic, and for first—time voters will have a say on how keir starmer and ed davey are doing. hartlepool will choose a new mp on may the 6th, and all 35 police and crime commissioners in england and four in wales will be elected, too. now, when it comes to the practicalities of casting our votes during a pandemic, some things will feel a bit different. we are being asked to take our own pens and pencils, and there will of course be social distancing. but the big questions about how our towns, cities and countries should be run remain the same. plaid cymru says it will hold

an independence referendum in wales within five years if it came to power in may's senedd election. launching the party's manifesto, leader adam price said his proposals would create 60,000 greenjobs, extend free school meals and social care — free at the point of need. it sets out the practical, deliverable, and yes, fully costed policies that we can put to work to bring about that new nation. it speaks of and to a country that has come of age. whose next chapter will be fairer, greener, and more prosperous than the decades of disappointment that came before. an international team of scientists say they have found "strong evidence" for the existence of a new force of nature. they've discovered that sub—atomic particles called muons don't behave in a way predicted by current theories of physics.

the uk funders of the research say that science is "on the precipice of a new era of physics". 0ur science correspondent, pallab ghosh, has more. the theories of modern physics have given scientists a new understanding of how the universe works. but the current ideas aren't able to solve some of the biggest scientific puzzles, such as how the universe as we know it came into existence. now, scientists at fermi lab, a particle accelerator just outside chicago, have got a result that might take us a big step forward in answering those questions. they've been accelerating particles inside this giant ring close to the speed of light, and they found that they might be behaving in a way that can't be explained by the current theory of physics at the subatomic level. we found that the interaction of a muon, which is a heavy electron with a magnetic field is not in agreement with our current best theory of physics, and clearly that's very exciting, because it potentially points

to a future of new laws, new particles and new forces in physics which we haven't seen up to date. you have heard of electrons, well, there are similar particles called muons which are much heavier and spin like tops. in the experiment, they were made to wobble using magnets. the current theory suggests they should wobble at a certain rate, instead, they wobbled faster. this might be caused by a mystery force that in turn is created by another yet to be discovered particle. scientists believe that there are four fundamental forces of nature, one for gravity, another for electricity and two nuclear forces, which control the behaviour of atoms. together, they explain the way the world works, but in recent years, astronomers began noticing things in space that can't be explained by the four forces, such as galaxies spinning faster than they should. and they can't explain why the stars and planets and everything on them,

including us, exist at all. the new result suggests there might be a fifth force which could explain some of these mysteries. i think it's quite mind—boggling, and they have the potential to turn physics on its head. we have a number of mysteries that remain unsolved, and this could give us the key answers to solve these mysteries. evidence for the fifth force has been growing, just two weeks ago, researchers at the large hydron colliderjust outside geneva had a similar result. the race is really on now to try and get one of these experiments to really get the proof that this really is something new. they will take more data and make more measurements and hopefully show evidence that these effects are real. these very early results aren't definitive yet, but they are generating a lot of excitement about the prospect of a giant leap forward in our understanding of the universe. pallab ghosh, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's nick miller.

we are searching for the existence of spring! not much sign of the moment as it was cold and frosty this week. there has been some sunshine but today we did lose most of that. it is about to turn a bit less cold. just easing a little bit before the after—care comes back again by the weekend. low pressure is turning the wind was chilly which is turning the wind was chilly which is an ice—cold direction that it will drive a cold front across as friday into saturday and behind that there is the return of that arctic air. there is more cloud now and we are getting some rain this evening

in northern ireland and the west of scotland. some rain also into parts of wales and the western side of england. some fast into the morning but nowhere near as cold as it was this morning. tomorrow again a lot of cloud around and some sunny spells. some spots have been possible but the heaviest rain initially in north—west scotland but moving south across scotland as we go through the day and by the evening into northern ireland. the wind will be strengthening especially gross bird in scotland and again just a especially gross bird in scotland and againjust a bit higher sojust and againjust a bit higher sojust a few more double figures showing up. the rain coming out of scotland on thursday evening across northern ireland and behind that the colder air already moving into scotland on friday. snow showers in the north but brightening up in scotland, northern ireland and northern england on friday. a narrow strip of rain moving south for england and wales. for many of us dry over the weekend with a frosty night again and some rain into southern england on sunday. that's all from the bbc news at six. so it's goodbye from me,

and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are.