of the past year covering the pandemic tells us how he approaches that challenge. we are back after our planned return to the airwaves last week was delayed by the special programming put in place following the death of the duke of edinburgh. as this weekend is prince phillips funeral we are going to discuss the audience reaction to the coverage on the programme next week. on this edition the subject is covid—19. here's the bbc medical editor fergus walsh around the time he last came on newswatch in march 2020. it's increasingly likely that we will see outbreaks of the new coronavirus centred here in the uk. france and germany have seen their cases suddenly doubled. both have warned of impending epidemics. if that happens here, expect more school closures,

the postponing of sporting events and other mass gatherings. fast forward 13 months to this week when the focus has been on the decision by us authorities to pause the use of thejohnson & johnson covid vaccine. the vaccine which in europe is branded as jansen was approved in the us in late february. since then, there have been six incidents of very rare clots in the brain out of 6.8 million doses. so less than one case per million people immunised. all were women under 50, one of them died and the one is critically ill. that issue of the possible links between very rare blood clots and vaccine such as those produced byjohnson &johnson and astrazeneca is an acutely difficult one forjournalists and rouses strong emotions in the audience. some viewers feel the bbc has made too much of the possible connection.

and a similar concern after seeing this story online a couple of weeks ago. but others find fault in the opposite direction.

carrie marsh wasn't accusing bbc news of being on the wrong side of the fence but wondered... well, i'mjoined now via webcam by fergus wells who is the bbc�*s medical editor. thank you for coming on newswatch. let's start with the issue of different vaccines, differing regulatory authorities around the world and then changing reports of possible risks. how do you decide what to report and when? i've been reporting risk for a long time now.

and it's a tricky area. i've always made it clear that no medicine, whether it's aspirin or vaccines have they all carry a certain level of risk. we have to balance that against the benefit. and when stories began to emerge both in the uk and in europe, in particular about the astrazeneca, the oxford astrazeneca vaccine and when they are reputable reports based on the safety data, the safety monitoring data we have a duty to report that. but also to set it into context. i really think the viewers and listeners and readers don't expect our reporting to simply be black and white. there are shades there. and it's about presenting the balance of the risk against the benefits.

are you worried at all that some viewers feel that the bbc might be feeding vaccine hesitancy? well, i hope not. i can remember a couple of weeks ago it was on the six and ten o'clock news when the sort of, definitive or the latest raft of reports came out about the link between clots and between the vaccine. and the vaccine advisory group suggested that people under 30 here get an alternative jab. and it was important to present any risk within context. i knew that that's what was coming out. and that morning i contacted a professor at the wynton group in cambridge who is absolute world expert on communicating at risk. and actually when the government then presented its data i noticed that they had also asked him to look

at the risk versus benefit. just to give you the context, for the group under 30 who had the highest potential risk of a clot, it's about one in 90,000 or one and 100,000 people who have the astrazeneca vaccine might get a clot. which is roughly the same risk as people in their 20s run every three months from dying in a road accident. obviously, if you're one of those people that has the clot then that can potentially be life—changing but i think it sets it in context. fergus, we know that many people don't really read much beyond the headline. and so with the best will in the world is there a danger that the bbc will be oversimplifying the complex issue in its report in? i don't think so because people do look beyond the headlines. there has been saturation

coverage of the pandemic. and which some may feel that we've given too much coverage to the coronavirus pandemic. and so i think that anybody who really wants to look at the potential risk and given that 32 million people have had at least one dose of vaccine, i think people are prepared to go beyond simply a topline headline. and even in our headlines we had won last week and online saying what are the risk versus the benefits? we tried to be quite clear. the bbc is of course a public service broadcaster. does the governments nhs vaccine drive put you in an awkward position and as some viewers feel the bbc is doing the governments job for it. well, yeah. that's an interesting comment. i think it's pretty clear that the nhs immunisation programme

programme for covid has been a huge success here. and it's been a key part and will play in absolutely crucial role in bringing the outbreak under control in the uk. as a whole it's hard to knock that. when you got the detail, if there are problems with any vaccines or problems with supplies or people are not getting there vaccine then we will absolutely report that. the fact that the immunisation programme is going very well, that means the coverage is generally positive. but if it was going badly, i can tell you, we would be highlighting that to. now in your career you've covered mers and sars. we are a year now into covid—i9. we've got all these new variants of a still emerging, how would you assess where things are in the pandemic and where the story might go? crystal ball gazing, we should give a big

health warning on that. whatever him about to say now. i'm optimistic that with immunisation that we in the uk are going to be in a far better place within the next couple of months towards the summer, a transformation in a much more near normal life that we've had in the last 18 months. but globally, there is still a huge, hugejob to do. fergus wells, thank you so much. ——walsh finally, bbc one sunday night from a line of duty has been a big ratings hit and is even got a mention in this week's prime minister's questions. but many viewers have been confused by some of the acronyms used by characters in the latest series. the fast—paced action pack show follows the work of ac 12, the unit investigating corruption

within the police itself. and bandies aboutjargon such as 0cg or organise crime group. and covert intelligent sores. we've always thought of ourselves on newswatch is a sort of ac 12 equivalent. here to police bbc news from the inside. but our collegues at radio derby also saw a parallel with the work they do and made this video. radio derby told us they were inspired to make that spoof in part to dispel the myth that local radio stations take themselves too seriously. beyond that they weren't prepared to answer any questions

radio derby told us they were inspired to make that spoof in part to dispel the myth that local radio stations take themselves too seriously. beyond that they weren't prepared to answer any questions without a lawyer present. if you'd like us to expose what you see as wrongdoing on the part of bbc news or to highlight what you like about the output then please e—mail... or post your thoughts on twitter @ newswatch bbc. you can call us... and do have a look at our website for previous interviews. that's all from us we will be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. the weekend is upon us, and the weather is looking pretty good across most of the uk. here's the good news, the temperatures are going to rise a little bit, just a bit. the mornings will still

be fairly chilly. a frosty night tonight, but i think by day, it will at least improve by around 2—3 degrees compared to what we've had in the last few. here is the weather map, from high—pressure close to uk, keeping weather fronts at bay. here's the recent satellite picture. you can see a weather frontjust brushing the outer hebrides there, scotland and also the north of northern ireland. 0ver us, just a scattering of fairweather cloud here and there. so, this evening and overnight, it's a case of clear skies, again, a touch of frost, particularly across central and eastern areas of the uk. but where we have the breeze, just lifting out of the south here, i think it'll keep things just about frost free, certainly in belfast and also western parts of scotland. but central and eastern areas, as i say, will be pretty nippy. so here's the weather map for saturday, daytime itself, and you can see that high pressure there. the weather front�*s trying to move in, again, brushing the very far

northwest of the uk. so, here, i think at times, a little on the cloudy side, but generally speaking, a case of sunny skies for most of us. in fact, out of the two days, i'd certainly say that saturday is going to be the sunnier day. best temperatures around 14—15 celsius towards the west of the uk. now on sunday, the weather fronts are moving a little bit closer, in fact, they are encroaching into northern ireland and also parts of scotland, which means we are going to see increasing amount of cloud, also the possibility of some light rain or drizzle in places like belfast, also western scotland, maybe even glasgow there. but, generally speaking, i think it's going to be more of a cloudy day for england and wales. the best of the sunshine in the far east of the uk. temperatures not bad, around 15 celsius. now, into monday, next week, so, still some mild air around on monday, but tuesday, wednesday, thursday, we'll pick up a northerly again blowing out of the arctic. so that means that eventually next

week, after this brief recovery that we're going to see in the temperatures up to around 15—16 celsius, they're going to go back down again. but let's enjoy the warmth this weekend if you can. bye— bye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the diplomatic row between russia and the us intensifies. moscow orders ten us diplomats to pack up and leave. appeals for calm in chicago, after police release film of the moment an officer shot dead a 13—year—old boy. china's leader calls for global cooperation in fighting climate change. final preparations for the funeral of the duke of edinburgh. a very personal ceremony planned by the duke himself.

russia is expelling ten us diplomats and blacklisting eight