Up to three households can meet indoors during a five-day Christmas period of 23-27 December, leaders of the four UK nations have agreed.

A source told the BBC that full details on how Covid restrictions will be relaxed will be announced shortly.

BBC Scotland's chief political correspondent said people will be allowed in each other's homes, a place of worship and outdoor public spaces.

But they must comply with hospitality rules place in their areas.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55064962

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As G20 leaders pledged to ensure the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, drugs and tests so that poorer countries are not left out, the US, UK and Germany each announced plans to begin vaccinations in their countries in December, while Spain said it would start administering the vaccine to its citizens in January.

Britain could give regulatory approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine as early as this week, even before the US authorises it, the UK’s Telegraph newspaper reported on Sunday. Pfizer and BioNTech could secure emergency US and European authorisation for their Covid-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed a 95% success rate and no serious side effects.

Moderna last week released preliminary data for its vaccine showing 94.5% effectiveness.

The better-than-expected results from the two vaccines, both developed with new messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, have raised hopes of an easing of a pandemic that has killed more than 1.3 million people.

In the US, the head of the US vaccine program, Moncef Slaoui, said the first Americans to receive a vaccine could get it as soon as 11 December, CNN reported on Sunday.

“Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunisation sites within 24 hours from the approval, so I expect maybe on day two after approval on the 11th or the 12th of December,” he said in an interview to CNN.

Citing government sources, the Telegraph also said the UK’s National Health Service had been told to be ready to administer it by 1 December.

Britain formally asked its medical regulator, the MHRA, last week to assess the suitability of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The UK Department of Health had no comment on Sunday on when the first vaccinations would be administered.

Britain has ordered 40m doses and expects to have 10m doses, enough to protect 5 million people, available by the end of the year if regulators approve it.

Germany could also start administering shots of Covid-19 vaccines as soon as next month, health minister Jens Spahn was quoted as saying on Sunday. He said Spain and Germany were the first European Union countries to have a complete vaccination plan in place.

“There is reason to be optimistic that there will be approval for a vaccine in Europe this year,” Spahn said in an interview with publishing group RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. “And then we can start right away.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/23/us-germany-and-uk-could-start-covid-vaccinations-as-early-as-december

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A maximum of 4,000 fans are set to be allowed at outdoor events in the lowest-risk areas when the national lockdown in England ends on 2 December.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make an announcement later on Monday about the return of crowds.

He will make a statement to the House of Commons, and MPs will vote on it later in the week.

Up to 2,000 fans will be allowed in tier two areas but zero in tier three.

The measures are set to be part of the new Covid-19 restrictions in England.

Elite sport has continued behind closed doors during England's four-week lockdown, but grassroots and amateur sport has been halted since 5 November.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/55010011

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The coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford stops 70% of people developing Covid symptoms, a large-scale trial shows.

It will be seen as both a triumph and a disappointment after vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna showed 95% protection.

However, the Oxford jab is far cheaper, and is easier to store and get to every corner of the world than the other two.

So it will still play a significant role in tackling the pandemic, if it is approved by regulators.

There is also intriguing data that suggests perfecting the dose could increase protection up to 90%.

The UK government has pre-ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, enough to immunise 50 million people.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Incredibly exciting news the Oxford vaccine has proved so effective in trials.

"There are still further safety checks ahead, but these are fantastic results."

The Oxford researchers have developed the vaccine in around 10 months, a process that normally takes a decade.

"The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by [the virus]," said the vaccine's architect Prof Sarah Gilbert.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55040635

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Britain could give regulatory approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, even before the United States authorises it, the Telegraph news site reported on Sunday.

Citing government sources, it said British regulators were about to start a formal appraisal of the vaccine, made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, and that the National Health Service had been told to be ready to administer it by Dec. 1.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it would meet on Dec. 10 to discuss whether to authorise the vaccine.

The UK Department of Health had no comment on Sunday on when the first vaccinations would be administered.

A spokesman said the authorisation process by the medical regulator Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is independent of the government and will take as long as they need to review the final data from Pfizer.

“An enormous amount of planning has taken place to ensure our health service stands ready to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokesman added.

Britain formally asked its medical regulator, the MHRA, last week to assess the suitability of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Britain has ordered 40 million doses and expects to have 10 million doses, enough to protect 5 million people, available by the end of the year if regulators approve it.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-vaccines-pfizer-br-idUSKBN2820R0

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The NHS’ current plan for the covid vaccine rollout — dependent on the arrival of supplies — would see the whole adult population able to begin receiving it before the end of January, according to leaked documents.

Under the plan, everyone who wants to would have been vaccinated by early April.

NHS England’s draft covid-19 vaccine deployment programme, reveals when each cohort is likely to begin receiving it, based on its plans to create huge capacity across GP-run facilities, “large scale mass vaccination sites”, NHS trusts, and “roving models” for those who cannot travel.

It relies on a range of assumptions including that there will be 75 per cent takeup, outside of residential settings like care homes and prisons, where 100 per cent is expected.

The plan also relies on supplies, including more than 7 million doses being available in December. It is not clear what impact a delay to this would have on the rollout. With most doses due to be administered between early January and  mid March — at a rate of 4-5 million every week — a small delay may not make a huge impact to the overall schedule.

The document is dated 13 November and was shared among some senior NHS regional leaders yesterday.

The dates pencilled in for beginning each group are:

Care home residents and staff, healthcare workers - from beginning of December;

Ages 80 plus - from mid-December;

Everyone aged 70-80 - from late December;

Everyone aged 65-70 - from early January;

All high and moderate risk under 65s - from early January;

Everyone aged 50-65 - from mid January; and

Everyone aged 18-50 - from late January; but with the bulk of this group vaccinated during March.

The plan would see 88.5 million vaccination doses delivered across England, with two doses per person over the age of 18, by the end of April. The doses must be given 28 days apart, for both the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (known in the planning documents by the codename Courageous) and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (known by the name Talent), according to the document.

https://www.hsj.co.uk/coronavirus/exclusive-nhs-planning-to-start-covid-vaccination-of-under-50s-by-end-of-january/7029015.article

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Rollout of the Pfizer vaccine could begin in the UK as soon as next month, Matt Hancock has said, with the bulk of the rollout taking place in the New Year.

Mr Hancock also confirmed the Government has formally asked the UK's independent regulator (MHRA) to assess the suitability of the vaccine.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference this evening, the Health Secretary said: "We know that the manufacturing process for all vaccines is difficult and uncertain. So I've asked the NHS to be ready to deploy at the speed at which the vaccine can be produced.

"What I can say about timing is that if, and it still is an if, if the regulator approves a vaccine, we will be ready to start the vaccination next month, with the bulk of the rollout in the New Year.

"We're heading in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go. Coronavirus remains a grave danger right now."

Mr Hancock also said that latest data appears to show that the UK is "clearly" near the peak of the second wave.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-oxford-vaccine-christmas-lockdown/

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Coronavirus infection rates are levelling off in England and Scotland and decreasing in Wales and Northern Ireland, latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests.

It shows rates in school-age children are still rising while falling in young adults.

The R number for the UK continues to fall and is now between 1 and 1.1.

But that doesn't yet reflect the impact of the second lockdown in England, introduced on 5 November.

The government's scientific advisers, Sage, say the epidemic in the north-west of England is now shrinking, although infection levels in the region still remain high.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55016893

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One in four people may already be immune to coronavirus - without ever being infected, a new study has found.

Public Health England (PHE) followed nearly 2,850 key workers from the police, fire and health services to gauge levels of immunity to Covid-19.

Researchers found that by June, a quarter had high levels of T-cells which recognised the virus.

It suggested they had some level of protection against the bug, yet nearly half had never been infected.

The experts believe they may have developed a level of immunity from similar coronaviruses - like the one that causes the common cold.

They followed up with the study sample after four months and found that no-one with a high T-cell count had caught Covid.

Dr Peter Wrighton-Smith, the CEO of Oxford Immunotec, the company that developed the T-cell test for trial, said that the results show that relying on antibody testing alone to see who is immune to the virus could underestimate the number of people who have immunity.

T-cells target and destroy cells in the body that become infected by the virus.

Previous studies on immunity have centered on antibodies.

Antibodies neutralise a virus before it is able to enter the cells of the body.

Data from the study found that none of the participants with high T-cell responses became infected with the virus in the following four months.

This, the experts claim, suggests that part of the immune system can protect people from the virus.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13249689/quarter-already-immune-coronavirus-without-ever-infected/

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A nasal spray purportedly capable of preventing infection from coronavirus, as well as stopping people from infecting others, has been developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham.

According to the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, it catches and coats the virus inside the nose, from where it can be eliminated by either nose-blowing or swallowing.

As the virus is encapsulated in the spray, it is prevented from being taken-up by the body, so if any virus particles are passed on to another person via a sneeze or cough, that person is less likely to be infected by active virus particles, researchers say.

Professor Liam Grover, one of the leading authors of the study, said: "Although our noses filter thousands of litres of air each day, there is not much protection from infection, and most airborne viruses are transmitted via the nasal passage.

"The spray we have formulated delivers that protection but can also prevent the virus being passed from person to person."

Researchers say regular application of the spray could significantly reduce disease transmission, and believe it could be particularly useful in areas where crowding is less avoidable, such as on flights or in classrooms.

"Products like these don't replace existing measures such as mask wearing and handwashing, which will continue to be vital to preventing the spread of the virus.

"What this spray will do, however, is add a second layer of protection to prevent and slow virus transmission."

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-university-of-birmingham-develops-nasal-spray-that-protects-against-coronavirus-and-prevents-transmission-12136189

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