thanks to all of you who called and to england's deputy chief medical officer, jonathan van—tam. hope that was an informative question and answer session for you with professorjonathan question and answer session for you with professor jonathan van—tam, question and answer session for you with professorjonathan van—tam, we cannot answer all the questions sent to us but hopefully we got through some of the key areas people wanted to know more information about. and took one of the other main stories today, students sitting gcse and a—levels in england next year will be awarded more generous grades to compensate for the disruption to schooling in the pandemic. pupils will get advanced notice of exam topics and be allowed to use memory aids. measures will also be put in place to help students who miss exams because of self—isolation. here's more from our education editor, bra nwen jeffreys. heading home to self—isolate, year 11 at this secondary school. just before it was confirmed, some shared their gcse fears with me. i have a lot of worries about gcses because i really feel like t

and you can see all of that session with jonathan van—tam on and you can see all of that session withjonathanding to reports of a large explosion at a warehouse on the outskirts of bristol. the south western ambulance service says it's also sent teams to the scene in avonmouth. there's no word yet as to what caused the explosion or whether anyone has been injured. the supermarket chains sainsbury‘s, asda and aldi have announced they will return hundreds of millions of pounds saved through the government's business rates holiday. tesco and morrisons announced similar plans yesterday. let's get more details from our business correspondent emma simpson. is there a lot of pressure on all of the supermarket chains to do this? yes. that has been increasing and if you remember, at the start of the pandemic, retail and hospitality we re pandemic, retail and hospitality were given a business rates holiday for the year to survive but of course the supermarkets remained open throughout and they have enjoyed a sales boom albeit with higher costs. just the four big grocers alone, it is estimated they rece

van—tam, you can text on 85058. or use the hashtag #bbcyourquestions on social media. good morning, professorjonathan van—tam. thank you for your time this morning. before we start, is it jvt, jonathanm called you? she calls me jonny, but you can call me whatever you like.” think the professor is probably appropriate for us this morning. henrietta is co—owner of a care home in teignmouth. what would you like to ask? we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the vaccine, but given the speed of its development, the fact we are the only country so far satisfied with its safety and of course a lot of negative messaging on social media, some of our staff and residents families have some anxieties about the vaccine being given to themselves or their loved ones. how would you reassure them that the vaccine is safe for them and for our residents, some of whom may be very frail? yes, 0k, thank you. i completely understand the anxieties. i think what i would do is tackle this in three ways. number one, to tell you plain and straight that i genuinely have said to my 78—year—old mum, who is probably listening now, that you must have this vaccine or any of the vaccines that the mhra approves as

good morning, professor jonathan van tam. your time to stop before we start, is it professor va n time to stop before we start, is it professor van tam, is a jv tea, as itjonathan, professor van tam, is a jv tea, as it jonathan, what does professor van tam, is a jv tea, as itjonathan, what does your mum call you? she calls me johnny but you can call me what you like. i think professor is probably appropriate. we will start with henrietta. henrietta, you are a co—owner of a ca re henrietta, you are a co—owner of a care home. what would you like to ask? as you can imagine, we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the vaccine. however, given the speed of its development and the fa ct we speed of its development and the fact we are the only country so far satisfied with its safety, and negative messaging on social media, some of our staff and residents' families have some anxiety about the vaccine being given to themselves or their loved ones. how would you reassure them that the vaccine is safe for them and our residents, some

the deputy chief medical officerfor england, professor jonathan van—tam, is with us now to answer youroff. a number of questions for you and a lot of people wanting to know details right now. gavin is asking: "why is the uk the first to approve this vaccine? is it safe?" yes. 0k. yes. ok. so, we are the first to approve it because we have been really, really organised about this from the word go. i started focusing behind—the—scenes on getting vaccines and vaccine preparedness backin vaccines and vaccine preparedness back in march actually quite a bit before the vaccine taskforce, which has been absolutely brilliant was formed. and so this began with conversations with the government chief scientific adviser sir patrick vallance. and from the word go, we have been on the front foot, being clear that we needed vaccines as soon as was safely and assuredly possible. and the mhra, our regulator, has just been superb possible. and the mhra, our regulator, hasjust been superb in this space. and taken unprecedented steps to see data early, and that's why we are where we are. the manufacturers

and jonathan van tam said... he said low uptake will make the restrictions last longer.how long it'll take to vaccinate. and also about the logistical details of how it is going to be given to people. yes. there are some big hurdles to overcome. there are three key ones. firstly, supply. we are getting 800,000 doses of this vaccine in the coming days. but 15 million people over 65 and those working in the health and care sectors, and each need two doses. we should get several million doses of this vaccine by the end of the year but it is shipped from belgium and we need to ensure the supply is smooth. this vaccine has to be kept in ultra—cold storage and at the moment kept in batches of 975 doses. that means next week we can only distribute it from hospitals, we can't use the network of more than 1000 gp centres and conference centres. and, finally, uptake. the officials stress we need people to come forward. this is being done in record time but all the checks and bala nces record time but all the checks and balances have been done and any problem with any of these slow

jonathan van tam saying mask for a year despite vaccine, and they would a lot of other people might notave had the vaccine you can't necessarily be holding her grandchildren still. it will be a source of just surprise grandchildren still. it will be a source ofjust surprise and dismay. those over 90 and over 80. a huge incentive to make people that age at the vaccine is that there will be reunited with their families, and as we heard earlier from margaret keenan the first lady to get a job in saying she's had to spend a lot of this year alone and for her getting the jab mentioned that she could be reunited with her grandchildren and her children. i've been interested today talking to some been interested today talking to some conservatives particularly those in the covid research group which is been very critical of the elect are restrictions. urging the government to set out a timetable for the kind of restoration of personal freedoms that have been infringed upon by the crisis, and how the vaccine will play into that. we do know that the vaccine is not an overnight cure but at the sam

good morning professor jonathan van—tam, thank you for your time this morning. e calls mejonny. but you can call me whatever you like, i will answer you. i think professor is probably appropriate for us this morning. we will start off with henrietta. good morning to you henrietta. you are the co—owner of a care home, what would you like to ask? good morning. as you can imagine, we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the vaccine, however given the speed of the vaccine development and the fact that we are the only country so far satisfied with its safety and of course a lot of negative messaging on social media, some of our staff and residents' families have some anxiety about the vaccine being given to them or their loved ones. how would you reassure them that the vaccine is safe for them and residents, some of whom may be very frail. 0k, thank you. i completely understand the anxieties. i think what i would do is tackle this in three ways. number one, to tell you plain and straight that i genuinely have said to my, you know, 78—year—old mum, who is probably l

coronavirus: your questions answered. we'll be joined by the deputy chief medical officer for england jonathan van—tamon the coronavirus and the vaccine — that will be at nine o'clock tomorrow morning on the news channel and on bbc two. it is feared that conspiracy theories could cause some to be relu cta nt to theories could cause some to be reluctant to be immunised. let's speak to chloe colliver from the institute for strategic dialogue. she leads a global team of analysts studying disinformation and extremism online. we hear about this information so much when it comes to vaccine. a kinda falls into groups. those people who are completely against it and those who just are unsure. absolutely. we've seen a long—standing and very well established anti—vaccination community online over the past few yea rs. community online over the past few years. and those are generally hard and fast believers in conspiracy theories that undermine any trust in any kind of vaccination. but what we've seen this year around the covid—19 pandemic is a much broader general hesitant individuals who might not have had the c

it will all depend on the roll—out of the vaccine, how successful as it is, as we had from jonathan van tamt protects the most vulnerable out there, particularly elderly people and those with underlying conditions. we will have to see how it works out. in the meantime, we have this depressing figure of 60,000 deaths in the uk, deaths within 28 days of a positive test. there is a wider measure including everyone who died with covid on their death certificate and that is more than 70,000. the uk, sadly, the death rate per 100,000 of the population is right up there among the highest of the leading economies, below only spain and italy. so there are hopes for the future with the vaccine but this is the sobering reality right 110w. this is the sobering reality right now. our health editor hugh pym, thank you. four people have died and one other has been injured after an explosion at a waste water treatment works in avonmouth near bristol. fire crews and police were called to the site of the blast this morning. jon kay is there for us. yes, in the last few minutes, the prime minister and the may

and you watch the full edition of your questions answered with professor jonathan van—tam on the bbcof the royal college of gps. how much that you know at this stage of gps' involvement in this? it's so exciting to have one of the vaccines ready for delivery, general practitioners stand ready to play their part. we know that there is going to be three different ways of delivering the vaccine, one is free to groups of general practices working together. the second one is through hospitals. the third one is free mass vaccination centres. what we are hearing at the moment it looks like a large proportion of the people being vaccinated will receive their vaccinations through a general practice. we are awaiting instructions as to went the vaccine we can use it will be available and how best to deliver it. wouldn't you say that is pretty much the sum total of what gps as a group are being towed at the moment? that figure and the fact that there are three different ways of getting it? i'm conscious that you beat up and down the country will be fined up and contacted by patients asking if th

england's deputy chief medical 0fficer professor jonathan van—tam has insisted every effort will be madeoved vaccine into care homes as soon as possible — despite the logistical challenges. the vaccine has to be kept at minus 70 celsius, and can be exposed to higher temperatures only under strict conditions, for a limited time. our health correspondent anna collinson reports. it is the day after what has been called a day to remember. the uk has now approved its first coronavirus vaccine. now the next challenge is getting it to patients. the pfizer and biontechjap needs to be transported from belgium and the bbc understand some of the initial delivery will travel via the eurotunnel today. there is a technical issue related to the pfizer vaccine that we currently expect to receive very shortly in the uk, and i do mean hours not days. there is a technical issue related to the cold storage. age is by far the biggest risk factor when it comes to coronavirus, so older age groups were to be prioritised. but as priority meets reality, there has been some trade off. taking a straight now to avon

officerjonathan van—tam has warned that there will be no immediate return to normal life, saying ‘we have to take it really carefully.‘ earlier the deputy chief medical 0fficerfor england, professor jonathanoves as soon as they are available. this is really important because you are so at risk. so, that is a kind of personal piece, if you like. i am very confident in the assessments the mhra makes. professor van—tam has become well known for his use of metaphors to explain the stage we're at in the pandemic. this is how he phrased it earlier. i would say that, you know, it's clear in the first half, you know, the away team gave us an absolute battering. what we have done now, it's the 70th minute, they got a goal and, in the 70th minute, we've now got an equaliser. 0k? we have got to hold our nerve now, see if we can get another goal and nick it. but the key fingers not to lose it, not to throw it away at this point, because we've got points on the board, we've got the draw. —— thing is. so, from that perspective, what i'm saying is, we need more vaccines, but we also need people to realise that these are not an instant ticket out of anywhere at the moment. we are in for some hard winter

you and jonathan van—tam and many others as well.ng that will go away with just one vaccination. we don't know how long immunity lasts, we expect it to last at least a year, but we may require boosting on an annual basis, particularly for very vulnerable populations that may have a less robust immune response. so we need to work really actively now, but also thinking about the future and preparing for that. professor, thank you for talking to us this morning. and making very create you are working on that booster approach in terms of the vaccine and developing vaccines at imperial college london, i wish you well with your work. it is one of those mornings, we have had breaking news from about seven o'clock and you can see it, this pfizer/biontech vaccine will be rolled out next week officially approved for use in the uk, ready to be used by the nhs next week. in terms of what else we are talking about this morning, you might have seen about this morning, you might have seen the story both across the press and real interest in this ov

but england's deputy chief medical officer professor jonathan van—tam warned last week that "low uptake to ensure high uptake of the vaccine? let's get more on this and speak to professor stephan lewandowsky professor of cognitive psychology, specialising in behavioural science, at the university of bristol. thank you for your time this afternoon and how... good to see you. how do you persuade the majority of a population to take something like this up? first of all, the main thing you've got to do is make it easy to get. 0ne all, the main thing you've got to do is make it easy to get. one of the things we know from behavioural science is that access is a primary driver of vaccine uptake. now, by the looks of it, the nhs is doing exactly the right thing by saying it's your turn next. that is step number one. step number two is reiterating how important it is to get vaccinated because at the moment, that is our only ticket out of the pandemic. it's our ticket to freedom. it's a ticket to get out of here, and the most recent survey i was involved in, which was led by daniel freeman at oxf

we have heard jonathan van tam talking about the advice is already given to his mum if she gets up atmic researchers for a really long time that they might have to develop a vaccine rapidly in the event of a pandemic. usually with vaccine trials, these can last many years. often there are gaps between different phases of trials taking place, funding issues, paperwork issues. the regulatory approval can ta ke issues. the regulatory approval can take quite a long time because of red tape. all of these processes have been reduced. the corners have not been cut, but what has happened is the phase two and phase three trials have ta ken is the phase two and phase three trials have taken place simultaneously in order to collect the data as rapidly as possible. that has really been put in place. that has really been put in place. that is why we have manufactured these vaccines rapidly. the key question to get across here, and it is very important that people know the regulatory approval process is still the same, the fact that the vaccine has been approved should give confidence to the genera

and i think it was jonathan the new vaccine be rolled out? and i think it wasjonathan van tamt, given the rising rates of coronavirus. the oxford vaccine is crucial because it is easier to store and distribute, we already have millions of doses in the country. so, coupled with the pfizer vaccine that has already been used, we could see a significant ramping up we could see a significant ramping up of vaccination rates. we've seen 600 these in —— 600,000 people vaccinated already but gps tell me they could easily do 2 million people per week, if there is a good supply of the vaccines. and that is going to be crucial in the next few months, ensuring that the vaccine is sent out to these local vaccination centres, there are going to be about 1500 of them across the uk, to make sure that they can get the vaccine in people's arms and help return the country to some sort of normality. thank you very much. let's go now to our political editor, vicki young, at westminster. as we thought, vicki, the prime minister trying to balance what he called the plus side and the downside of this?