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Newspaper headlines: 'Hope in the post' as '5 million more offered jab'

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image captionCovid vaccination progress leads Monday's front pages, as over-70s and clinically extremely vulnerable people in England will start to be offered a jab this week. The Daily Mail says there will be "hope in the post" for more than 5 million people, including 4.6 million in their 70s and another 1 million classed as clinically extremely vulnerable.
image caption"Full speed ahead with vaccination of over-70s" reports the Times. It says the number of people who have already been vaccinated is expected to exceed 4 million on Monday, adding that more than half of people aged over 80 have now had a jab. This means the government can begin offering jabs to the next two priority groups, the paper says. The PM is still aiming to hit his target of vaccinating all nine priority groups by 15 February.
image captionThe prime minister has hailed a new "milestone" in the race to vaccinate the country, according to the Daily Telegraph. Boris Johnson has thanked "everyone involved in this national effort". The next step in the vaccine programme comes as 10 new mass vaccination sites open in England on Monday, the paper adds. It also says the government is aiming to complete the full first phase of vaccination, including everyone aged over 50 and those deemed at risk, by early spring - helping to pave the way for the lifting of lockdown in March.
image captionAccording to the Daily Mirror, every adult in the country will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by the autumn. It splashes with comments by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who pledged on Sunday that all over-18s would be offered a first dose by September. And Mr Raab said the current lockdown could be eased from March.
image captionThe Daily Express cites the PM as saying 140 vaccinations are now being administered every minute. That figure is expected to rise with Monday's opening of new vaccine hubs, it says. The paper claims that all adults will be offered a vaccine by autumn, possibly even summer.
image captionThe Metro also carries the number of vaccines being carried out per minute, but stresses that the race to beat the virus is at a "pivotal moment", as a new patient is admitted to hospital with coronavirus every 30 seconds. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens warned a quarter of those entering hospital were under 55.
image captionElsewhere, the Sun says its so-called "Jabs Army" of vaccine volunteers has reached a total of 48,000, after Mecca Bingo backed the campaign.
image captionThe Financial Times looks ahead to Wednesday's inauguration ceremony for US President-elect Joe Biden. It says Mr Biden will begin reversing Donald Trump's policies on his first day in office. The paper also reports that Audi will delay the production of some of its high-end cars because of a "massive" shortage of computer chips that is sweeping the automotive industry. Demand for cars slumped last year due to the Covid pandemic, prompting auto suppliers to cut their orders for the computer chips, the paper explains.
image captionAnd finally, the Daily Star declares it "time for your walkies", claiming that the government will let dogs leave the house for walks as much as they need - in new lockdown advice for pet owners.

In Monday's papers, there is a photo on the front of the Telegraph of the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, on board the plane that took him back to Moscow yesterday.

He is wearing a face covering - but he seems slightly startled by the journalists surrounding him, wielding cameras and smart phones.

The headline is: "Putin's harshest critic flies into a storm".

He is also on the front page of the Financial Times - pictured in the airport after touching down, with police officers closing in to arrest him.

Both the Express and the Mail lead on the NHS in England starting to send letters to the over-70s, inviting them for their Covid vaccinations.

The Mail's headline is: "Hope in the post for five million". Its leader describes the statistic - that each minute, 140 British people receive a jab - as "truly head-spinning".

image copyrightPA Media

But the Express warns readers that no matter how well the vaccination programme seems to be going, "this is not the time for complacency".

In its opinion column, the Times suggests that as the pace of inoculation increases, attention is now turning to "what new freedoms the country will enjoy".

But it too signals a note of caution, warning ministers to do all they can to prevent new Covid variants spreading in the UK.

It concludes that the progress made in recent days is "too exciting to squander".

The Mirror focuses on the government's latest vaccination target, with the headline: "Jabs done by September".

That refers to the suggestion that all adults in Britain could have been offered their first injection by the autumn.

Its leader column states that "shortages and problems with the supply of vaccines seem to have mysteriously vanished, as ministers tout even more ambitious figures".

And it seems sceptical about the language used by the government - pointing out that it "talks as if people given a first jab are inoculated, when immunisation is not complete until the second".

Trump Baby Blimp

The Guardian is one of several papers to report that a 20ft high inflatable caricature of US President Donald Trump - as a scowling infant - is being added to the Museum of London's collection.

It explains that the orange, helium-filled "Trump Baby Blimp" was a focal point for the protests in the city, during his state visit in 2019.

The museum's director explains that it is being included as an example of the British love of satirising politicians. The headline is: "Inflated ego".

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The Guardian also looks ahead to the Commons debate later - on whether the government should extend the temporary £20 a week boost to Universal Credit, which was introduced at the start of the pandemic.

It says the Resolution Foundation think-tank has added its voice to those calling for the extension.

The organisation's senior economist tells the paper that the decision "will determine whether millions of households are able to enjoy any sort of living standards recovery next year".

In his obituary of Phil Spector, the Telegraph's music critic, Neil McCormick, says it is hard to know how to feel about the death of such a hugely important, and yet hugely flawed, music industry figure.

"Do we lament one of the legendary architects of modern pop, the original Tycoon of Teen?" he asks.

"Or do we say good riddance to a narcissistic, misogynistic, gun-obsessed, unrepentant killer?"

Finally, the i newspaper marks the forthcoming sale at auction of a demo tape, recorded by the band which became Radiohead, with a round-up of valuable demos that have gone under the hammer.

It says the earliest known tape of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards went for more than £50,000. And a 1958 recording of The Quarrymen, who would become the Beatles, playing "That'll Be The Day" is said to be worth up to £200,000.