Coronavirus latest news: Those who cannot work from home should get vaccine priority, says minister

• PM hails milestone as 5m more offered jab

• Exclusive: Mass testing of entire regions considered

• Almost a third of recovered patients return to hospital

• One Covid patient admitted to hospital 'every 30 seconds'

• Resistance over plans for 24/7 vaccine drive​

• Travel latest: UK's tough new border rules come into force

Teachers, police officers and retail staff who cannot work from home "should be prioritised" in the second phase of the vaccine rollout, the Vaccines Minister has suggested.

Speaking to ITV this morning, Nadhim Zahawi said there is a justification for certain occupations to be prioritised as the vaccination programme develops. He added that the Government will work with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation as they set up an allocation framework.

"My instinct is that anyone who, through no fault of their own, has to come into contact with the virus in much greater volume and probability should be protected - teachers, policemen and women, shop workers, all those who need that additional protection," he said.

"Now, some of them will be captured in the top nine categories anyway if they are clinically vulnerable, for example, or in that age group of the over-50s which are in category nine, effectively.

"But phase two - of course we'll be guided by the JCVI - but my instinct is that if you work in a job, a shop worker, policemen or women, any other profession which brings you into contact with the virus unfairly, then I think you should be prioritised."

This week jabs will be offered to millions of over 70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable as the vaccination rollout gathers pace. Plans are also in place to begin pilots for 24/7 vaccination centres before the end of the month, Mr Zahawi said.

Follow the latest updates below.

01:04 PM

Vaccine figures: 264,991 first doses given in Scotland and 151,737 in Wales

Nicola Sturgeon has announced that 264,991 people across Scotland had now received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine.

Speaking at her daily briefing, the First Minister said that having first focused on care home residents, Scotland was seeking to "rapidly expand" its vaccination programme.

She said: "Thousands of vaccinations are now taking place each day at the NHS Louisa Jordan in Glasgow and work is ongoing to establish further major vaccination sites."

She thanked the Army for the logistical support it is providing, as she said Scotland was "on track" to complete vaccinations for care home residents, health and care staff and those aged over 80 by the start of February.

Meanwhile in Wales, authorities said this morning that 151,737 people have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 201 had been given a second dose.

Earlier today the First Minister Mark Drakeford defended criticism that there has been a slower rollout of the vaccination programme in Wales - saying the Pfizer vaccine could not be used all at once.

Mr Drakeford told BBC that the country is "on track" to vaccinate the top four priority groups by the middle of February, suggesting that "the thing that limits us at the moment is supply".

"We're using every bit of the vaccine that we are getting," he said.

12:53 PM

Stronger potential benefits of 24/7 vaccine rollout as roll-out widens

As the Government starts rolling out jabs to over-70s, Tamzen Isacsson, the chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) said there was more "potential benefits" to 24/7 vaccines.

She told The Telegraph that "firms have been assisting with planning and logistics to expand the rollout with extended hours provided across the country", which has so far included early morning, late evening and weekend slots.

“Now the government has announced it will be targeting the next two wave of groups, 3 and 4 the potential benefits of 24/7 vaccination hours and mass vaccination centres are stronger given there is more flexibility in the system now.

“The main constraint continues to be the lack of available staff that have been appropriately trained and are ready to administer it and there are understandable challenges with taking GPs off their frontline work in surgeries.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure there are vaccination sites within 10 miles for everyone in the UK and work needs to continue to ensure all geographies across the UK are developing their vaccination sites at the same speed.”

12:45 PM

Huge queues in Moscow as Russia opens vaccine drive to all

Dozens of Moscow residents queued today to be vaccinated against Covid-19 at a large department store, opposite the Kremlin on Red Square, where the shot is being given on a first-come, first-served basis.

Still surrounded by Christmas decorations, with the shop fronts of Chanel and Rolex nearby, Muscovites of all ages waited for their first shot of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The country, which has the world's fourth highest number of Covid-19 cases, started large-scale vaccinations last month, initially for people in key professions - including medical workers and teachers. On Monday it opened the programme to all.

Moscow's health department announced it would be opening several mobile vaccination clinics around the city, including in the GUM department store. Other locations include the busy DEPO food court and an opera theatre.

Though the vaccine has been widely available in Moscow since December, the picture outside the capital is different. Most regions have reported receiving fewer than 5,000 doses so far.

Authorities have said they plan to inoculate 60 per cent of the population of 144 million this year. The country has two registered vaccines and is expected to approve a third in the next few days.

12:36 PM

Patel: Tougher enforcement, not stricter rules, needed to curb Covid

Priti Patel has insisted that tougher enforcement of existing rules, not stricter measures, are needed to help curb Covid-19.

Speaking to PA news agency the Home Secretary said that despite the R number being above the crucial threshold of one, new lockdown measures are not needed.

"The focus has to be on compliance and enforcement of the regulations and the rules as they stand," she said. "You can only leave your home for a limited number of reasons and police are enforcing that rigidly, stringently across the country.

"That has been illustrated in the number of fines over the weekend, in the last week, the number of house parties, UMEs (unlicensed musical events) and also members of the public who have been spoken to by the police.

"That will continue and actually it's by enforcing the rules, the public following the rules, that we will get the R value down."

12:28 PM

Outbreak of 'British variant' of coronavirus in Belgium and St Moritz

An outbreak of the “British variant” of Covid-19 in Belgium has forced two schools to close and put almost two thousand people into quarantine, while ski schools were closed in a Swiss ski resort.

Two hotels in the exclusive Swiss Alpine resort of St Moritz were quarantined and ski schools closed to try to curb an outbreak of the highly infectious new coronavirus variant.

Everyone in the town of 5,200 has been ordered to wear masks and mass testing of residents will take place on Tuesday. Schools and daycare venues are closed.

"About a dozen cases are currently known in two hotels. To protect the health of the population and guests, the health department has quarantined the two hotels and ordered corona tests for their employees and guests," local authorities said.

Meanwhile wto schools in the province of Antwerp and another in Aalst reported the infections of the mutant virus, which is highly contagious.

Marc Van Ranst, a prominent virologist, said the British variant was probably already all over Belgium.

James Crisp and Ben Farmer have more details on this story here.

12:21 PM

Archbishop of Canterbury gets Covid jab and urges others to follow suit

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby received a Covid-19 jab over the weekend and has urged others to follow suit when offered a vaccine.

The Archbishop tweeted that he received the jab because he is a volunteer member on the Guys and St Thomas' Hospital chaplaincy team.

"I want to encourage everyone to get the Covid-19 vaccine when they are invited. Staff across the NHS, and health workers across the world, are under immense pressure on the frontlines of the pandemic," he said.

"They deserve not just our admiration but our support - and getting the vaccine when we have the opportunity is something we can all do to relieve the burden on them."

12:12 PM

Global news summary

Just joining us? Here's a recap of the key international developments so far today:

• The world is on the brink of a "catastrophic moral failure" on distributing vaccines, the head of the WHO has warned, urging countries and manufacturers to fairly share Covid-19 doses.

• France it is on track to reach its target of vaccinating 1 million people by the end of January and 2.4 million by the end of February, amid frustration at a slow rollout.

• Austria, Greece and Denmark will have said they will jointly pressure the European Medicines Agency to approve AstraZeneca's vaccine as quickly as possible.

• The Japanese Prime Minister has vowed to forge ahead with preparations to hold the Tokyo Olympics this summer, despite growing public opposition as Japan battles a surge of infections.

• China reported more than 100 new cases for the sixth consecutive day, with rising infections in the northeast fuelling concern of another wave when hundreds of millions of people travel for the Lunar New Year holiday.

• Australia may not fully reopen its international borders this year, even if most of the population is vaccinated, the head of its health department said as the country recorded zero local Covid cases. It comes as problems mount ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament, with more players forced into a hard quarantine.

• Brazilian health regulators have approved emergency use of vaccines from China's Sinovac and Britain's AstraZeneca, clearing the way mass rollout of vaccinations as the country faces a surge in cases.

• President-elect Joe Biden's goal of delivering 100 million doses of vaccine within the first 100 days of his presidency "is absolutely a doable thing," according to Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert.

• In Ghana infection rates are skyrocketing and threaten to overwhelm the health system, President Nana Akufo-Addo has warned, as new strains of the virus not before seen in the country have been detected.

12:00 PM

Newcastle becomes the first city to vaccinate all care home residents

A good new story for you here: every eligible Newcastle care home resident has been vaccinated against coronavirus, in what experts are hailing as "the start of a long road back to normality".

The doctor leading the project has confirmed that all care homes in Newcastle, comprising almost 2,000 residents in over 50 homes, and most of the staff looking after them have been given the jab.

The programme saw seven teams made up of a doctor, nurse and administrator delivering the vaccination to each home around the city, completing the job in less than a fortnight.

Newcastle is believed to be the first city in England to reach the milestone with its rapid vaccine rollout.

Chief operating officer from Newcastle GP Services, Rebecca Haynes, described the two-week rollout as "incredibly challenging but an absolute privilege."

India McTaggart has more details on this story here.

11:52 AM

Norway set to ease restrictions as Covid cases subside

Meanwhile in Norway, the government has announced plans to ease some restrictions designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus after extra measures imposed for the past two weeks seem to have had the desired effect.

The government will loosen some measures and again allow households to receive guests, but only up to a maximum of five visitors. Children and teenagers can resume sports activities.

But bars and restaurants are still banned from serving alcohol, until further notice.

"Although the measures seem to be working, and the infection rates are somewhat lower, the situation is still uncertain," Prime Minister Erna Solberg told parliament.

11:45 AM

'Here in Florida the bars are crowded and the party invites keep coming'

Across the Sunshine State, residents are living their lives with little disruption, writes Nick Dauk. Here's an extract from his dispatch from Florida - which you can read in full here.

11:36 AM

Dr Tedros: World on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure

The head of the World Health Organization has warned that the world is on the brink of a "catastrophic moral failure" on distributing Covid-19 vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers to share doses more fairly around the world.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the prospects for equitable distribution are at "serious risk" just as its vaccine-sharing scheme Covic aims to start distributing inoculations next month.

He noted 44 bilateral deals were signed last year and at least 12 have already been signed this year.

"This could delay Covax deliveries and create exactly the scenario Covax was designed to avoid, with hoarding, a chaotic market, an uncoordinated response, and continued social and economic disruption," he said.

Such a "me-first approach" left the world's poorest and most vulnerable at risk, Dr Tedros added at the opening of the body's annual Executive Board meeting in virtual format.

"Ultimately these actions will only prolong the pandemic."

The global scramble for shots has intensified as more infectious virus variants circulate. But Tedros to date, while 39 million doses of vaccine have been administered in 49 higher-income countries, just 25 doses have been given in one poor country.

11:28 AM

Watch: Australian Open tennis players forced to train in their hotel rooms

11:23 AM

Minister promises 24/7 vaccine pilot will launch in London this month

The Government will "absolutely" begin pilots for 24/7 vaccination centres before the end of the month, Nadhim Zahawi has said.

The minister for vaccine deployment told Sky News they would start with London hospitals and roll the round-the-clock service out from there.

Mr Zahawai stressed that it would give limited benefit until the most vulnerable cohort had been vaccinated, noting that: "The 8am to 8pm opening works more conveniently for the over-80s, then as you work down the age group becomes much more worthwhile."

11:08 AM

France promises 2.4m vaccines will be delivered by late February

France is on track to reach its target of vaccinating one million people against Covid-19 by the end of January and has enough doses to increase the total to 2.4 million by the end of February, Health Minister Olivier Veran has insisted.

His comments come amid growing frustration that France still trails far behind several other European countries - including the UK, where the number of people who have received a first dose of the vaccination had reached 3.2 million by Friday.

In Germany and Italy, more than one million people had been vaccinated by the end of last week.

But on Sunday, the health ministry reported that France had vaccinated just 422,000 people since the start of the vaccination campaign on December 26.

Veran said the main challenge in France - which has reported nearly three million confirmed Covid-19 cases, the highest in the Europe Union - was not the logistics of the vaccination process but the delivery of doses.

11:01 AM

Covid in the UK, in pictures

10:53 AM

Wales health service legally-obliged to hold onto Pfizer jab

Chief executive of NHS Wales, Dr Andrew Goodall, said the health service in Wales had been legally obliged to hold onto all supplies of the Pfizer vaccine to give the second dose within the then three-week requirement, reports India McTaggart.

Dr Goodall told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "The second dose needed to be retained up until the point that we were authorised to proceed with all the residual numbers of those vaccines, and that was a consistent standard that was in place for the whole of the UK."

He added: "It was in line with the legal advice and the MHRA handling arrangements.

"The vaccination activity has been increasing at pace and scale.

"We have a target, as with the rest of the UK to ensure that we're able to make the first four cohorts by mid-February, and at the moment we expect that our activity profiles will allow us to ensure that those targets are met by mid-February."

10:49 AM

Vaccine tracker: Is UK on track to hit target?

10:47 AM

Starmer: 'There's a very human need to go back to normality'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was looking forward to a return to normality but it could not be "business as usual" once the pandemic measures are eventually lifted, with a need to "build a better Britain" afterwards.

"There's a very human need, I think, to go back to normality. People want to hug their loved ones, they want to hug their friends," he told ITV's Lorraine.

"It's like me in the vaccine centre last week, realising how much I have missed human beings smiling in a room together.

"So people want to go back to normality, but after what we have been through we can't go back to business as usual because if this pandemic has done one thing it has absolutely, brutally, exposed the inequalities in our society and we owe it to the country to build a better Britain coming out of this, and a united one.

"One of the reasons I'm very excited about what's happening in America is I have seen, for the first time in a number of years, hope triumphing over hatred. We all need to get behind that."

10:37 AM

Vaccines will take 'many weeks' to ease pressure on NHS

Professor Stephen Powis said the vaccination programme will not reduce pressure on the NHS for "many weeks to come".

"As the chief executive of the NHS said yesterday, we are in a precarious position at the moment," he told the PA news agency.

"We have a huge demand on the NHS because of Covid infections since Christmas Eve. We have seen 15,000 new people being admitted, so that's well over 20 hospitals worth of new patients.

"So it's really important that everybody sticks to those social distancing guidelines that are in place.

"Because the vaccine programme won't help us in the NHS for many weeks to come.

"So we're relying at the moment on everybody doing what they've done throughout the last year - sticking to the rules, stopping the virus being transmitted. That will reduce deaths and of course it will take pressure off hospitals."

10:32 AM

Italy's cultural sites begin to re-open

Coronavirus numbers are still grim in Italy but archaeological and cultural sites are beginning to reopen this week in regions with lower infection rates, writes Nick Squires in Rome.

Italy’s 20 regions are colour-coded yellow, orange or red according to the number of deaths and infections from Covid-19, with red denoting the riskiest regions.

The ancient Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum – which are in Campania, designated a yellow, low-risk region – will reopen today.

The ancient temples of Paestum, south of Naples, will also be reopened to visitors. The famous Boboli Gardens in Florence will reopen on Tuesday.

They come under the administration of the Uffizi Galleries, which for now remain closed. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Tuscany, is also still closed.

Museums and archaeological sites are reopening in the lower-risk regions of Basilicata and Sardinia. The director of the Vatican Museums says she hopes to be able to reopen on Feb 1.

The Colosseum in Rome remains closed – Rome is part of Lazio region, which is an orange zone. Italy’s death toll from Covid-19 is around 82,000. More than a million people have so far been vaccinated.

10:29 AM

Watch: Australian Open players forced to practise in their hotel rooms

The Australian Open - tennis' first major of the year - is likely to be a bit different in 2021.

10:22 AM

Labour MP gets first jab

Labour MP Margaret Hodge tweeted: "I have just had my first jab, it was quick & easy! Big thank you to the brilliant team of NHS staff & volunteers, who work tirelessly every day!

The 76-year-old added: "When you are sent a vaccine appointment, please make sure you go. Vaccination is the best way to keep you and your community safe."

09:59 AM

Picture editor's photograph of the morning

09:51 AM

Minister hints those who cannot work from home should get jab priority

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said he thinks there is justification for those who cannot work from home to be prioritised as the vaccination programme develops.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, he said: "When we enter phase two, we will work with the Joint Committee (on Vaccination and Immunisation) to look at the priority.

"My instinct is that anyone who, through no fault of their own, has to come into contact with the virus in much greater volume and probability should be protected - teachers, policemen and women, shop workers, all those who need that additional protection.

"Now, some of them will be captured in the top nine categories anyway if they are clinically vulnerable, for example, or in that age group of the over-50s which are in category nine, effectively.

"But phase two - of course we'll be guided by the JCVI - but my instinct is that if you work in a job, a shop worker, policemen or women, any other profession which brings you into contact with the virus unfairly, then I think you should be prioritised."

09:29 AM

Minister 'worried' about BAME communities' vaccine uptake

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said he is concerned that vaccine uptake may be lower in BAME communities.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I am worried about BAME communities, which is why I'm spending a lot of time with the mayors, with Sadiq (Khan), and of course other parts of local government to make sure we reach those hard-to-reach groups.

"My big worry is if 85% of the adult population get vaccinated, if the 15% skews heavily to the BAME community, the virus will very quickly infect that community."

09:18 AM

Wales 'improving slowly', insists Mark Drakeford

First Minister Mark Drakeford told BBC Radio 4's Today programme things are "improving slowly" in Wales.

"We were badly hit before Christmas because of a combination of reasons," he said.

"Certainly, the arrival of the new variant was having an impact upon our numbers before we realised that this new variant was here.

"Our population - older, sicker, poorer, living close together in close-knit communities - there's no doubt that those are the conditions in winter months where coronavirus thrives, and we saw the impact of that, but that is why we took action early.

"I say in a tentative way, we're seeing the positive impact of that and we will be working as hard as we can with those fantastic people in our health service who have given so much to build on that further."

09:15 AM

Poll: Are you booking a holiday in 2021?

With the news that the Government is targeting vaccinating every adult in the UK by September - will you be booking a holiday now?

09:07 AM

'Discriminatory' to refuse to take on staff who won't be vaccinated

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said it would be "discriminatory" to refuse to take on new employees who will not be vaccinated.

Asked about Pimlico Plumbers' efforts to pressure staff to be jabbed, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think that is discriminatory.

"We're not that sort of country and I think it's important we do it by persuasion."

08:54 AM

NHS dramatically ramps up critical care beds

The chief executive of the NHS Confederation, the membership body for NHS trusts across the UK, said the health service has dramatically ramped up critical care beds in the face of an "exceptional" situation.

Speaking to Times Radio, Danny Mortimer said the NHS now has 5,500 critical care beds, up from 4,000 a year ago, with several hundred more due to become available on Monday.

"That's a sign of both the numbers of people that are coming through, but (also) how really, really ill, how much care and attention, how much help with their breathing, how much damage has been done to people's internal organs," he said.

But he warned that staff are under huge pressure, as the NHS does not have any more doctors and nurses trained in critical care than it did at the start of the pandemic.

08:49 AM

Lockdown - UK vs Brazil

This was the scene on a quiet beach in Bournemouth, Dorset.

And meanwhile in Rio...

08:45 AM

Wales to review restrictions on Jan 29

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford told Sky News the regulations would be reviewed every three weeks, with the next review due on January 29.

We will see then even whether there are some early marginal differences we could make to lockdown to reward people, in a way, for all the astonishing efforts they've made during the last few weeks to help us to turn the tide on coronavirus," Mr Drakeford said.

"I think it will be certainly the middle of February before we begin to see any more significant lifting of the lockdown. There are things we want to be getting on with now.

"We want to see more children back in school, for example, we will look to see whether it is possible to offer more opportunities to meet in the open air where we know coronavirus is less of a risk, and we will do it in the way that we did it earlier last year in Wales.

"We will do it carefully we will do it cautiously and we will do it in a way that will not throw away all the efforts and the gains that we have made since Christmas."

08:38 AM

Case numbers in Wales halved since Christmas

Mr Drakeford said the case numbers in Wales had halved since before Christmas - with rates down to 300 cases per 100,000 from 650.

"We're just beginning to see the impact of that on our hospital services as well so we go into this week, compared to where we were on Monday of last week, with fewer patients in hospital in Wales suffering from coronavirus and fewer patients suffering from coronavirus in intensive care," he said.

"Those are marginal gains this week but I think it has demonstrated that the system has stabilised and just begun to turn the corner.

"I do think it demonstrates that we were right to go into lockdown in Wales before Christmas. We're seeing the advantage of a move early in that way."

08:36 AM

One of four Oxford vaccine batches delivered to Wales fails testing

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford told Sky News one of the four batches of the Oxford vaccine his country was due to receive this week had failed testing.

"One of those batches has not come through the testing process and we will get it next week we're told instead," Mr Drakeford said.

"Everybody is working absolutely flat out from the manufacturers through to the people who do the vaccination at the practical end.

"When you're trying to do everything on a massive scale and at such speed there are going to be moments where not everything goes according to plan.

"But we are assured we will get that supply in exchange for this week next week, and we will be able to use it all then."

08:34 AM

'We're not a country that forces people to take vaccines'

The vaccine minister has said that the UK is not in the business of forcing people to get the vaccine.

Nadhim Zahawi said: "We're not the sort of country that forces people to take vaccines. We want to do it by persuasion".

08:26 AM

Wales vaccine total to top 150,000 by end of day

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford told Sky News around 150,000 people would have been vaccinated in Wales by the end of Monday.

"We're getting more supplies of vaccine this week, particularly the Oxford vaccine and we'll be able to use all of that," Mr Drakeford said.

"We're on track to vaccinate the top four priority groups by the middle of February, alongside the other UK nations.

"There's a long way to go with vaccination. We're going to be doing this for months and months, not just for weeks.

"So it's very important to get all the infrastructure in place. We've expanded the number of mass vaccination centres."

08:17 AM

No lifting restrictions before March, hints minister

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has suggested that a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions will not begin before early March.

He told BBC Breakfast: "If we take the mid-February target, two weeks after that you get your protection, pretty much, for the Pfizer/BioNTech, three weeks for the Oxford/AstraZeneca, you are protected.

"One of the things we don't know yet, and the deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam is on record as saying 'look give me a couple of months and I'll tell you', is the impact of the vaccine on transmission rates ie on infecting people.

"So there are a number of caveats that stand in the way of us reopening the economy.

"It will be gradually, it will be probably through the tiered system but you're looking at that sort of period, two to three weeks after the middle of February, after we've protected the top four cohorts."

08:11 AM

Arrivals trickle into Heathrow as travel corridors are axed

08:07 AM

Supply 'remains challenging', says minister

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said vaccine supply "remains challenging" and is the limiting factor in the rollout of coronavirus jabs.

He told BBC Breakfast: "We now have built a deployment infrastructure that can deploy as much vaccine as it comes through.

"And so it's the vaccine supply - which remains lumpy, it remains challenging, you may have read over the weekend probably some of the challenges around Pfizer and of course Oxford/AstraZeneca - but I'm confident we can meet our target mid-Feb, (for) those top four cohorts."

07:53 AM

Five million extra people now eligible for jabs

Expanding the vaccination programme means that an additional five million people will now be eligible for a Covid-19 jab, Professor Stephen Powis said.

The national medical director for the NHS in England told Good Morning Britain more vaccination centres were coming online every week.

"We are now able to expand the vaccination programme beyond those top two priority groups - that's the care home residents, care home staff, the hospital staff and the over-80s - down to the over-70s," he said.

"So that brings around another five million or so people into the prioritisation groups for Covid vaccination.

"From today those over 70 years old will be invited in to our vaccination centres."

07:40 AM

Exclusive: 24/7 vaccine drive resisted by consultants paid to speed up jabs

Plans to rollout Covid vaccinations 24/7 are being resisted by management consultants paid by the Government to speed up the programme, The Telegraph has disclosed.

Tamzen Isacsson, chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, confirmed that firms had advised the Government that the plan was no “silver bullet,” and inappropriate for vulnerable groups.

“Our firms are really at the heart of the critical decisions being made by the Government,” Ms Isacsson told The Telegraph.

Read Bill Gardner's piece here.

07:37 AM

London hospitals to pilot 24-hour vaccinations within days

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said 24-hour vaccinations will be piloted in London hospitals by the end of January.

He told Sky News: "We are going to pilot the 24-hour vaccination, the NHS is going to pilot that in hospitals in London and we will look at how we expand that."

Pressed for when the pilots will start, he said: "By the end of January, absolutely."

But he said 8am-8pm vaccination "works much more conveniently for those who are over 80 and then as you move down the age groups it becomes much more convenient for people to go late at night and in the early hours".

He backed the target to offer a first jab to everyone by September as "achievable" and said that over-70s are currently being offered first jabs in areas only where "the majority" of over-80s have had their first shot.

07:25 AM

Today's front page

Here is your Daily Telegraph on Monday, Jan 18.

06:50 AM

New Covid variant hits Swiss resort of St Moritz

Health authorities quarantined two hotels and closed ski schools in the posh Swiss resort of St Moritz on Monday to try to curb an outbreak of the highly infections new coronavirus variant.

The eastern canton of Grisons ordered everyone to wear masks in the town of 5,200 that prides itself as a birthplace of modern winter sports. Mass testing of residents will take place tomorrow.

"About a dozen cases are currently known in two hotels. To protect the health of the population and guests, the health department has quarantined the two hotels and ordered corona tests for their employees and guests," the canton said in a statement.

It did not give the guests' nationalities or reveal which new coronavirus variant had been detected.

While closing restaurants, bars, theatres and recreational venues to limit the spread of the disease, Switzerland has left ski lifts open as long as they maintain strict regimens to protect public health.

06:48 AM

No special treatment for tennis stars Down Under

Dozens of tennis stars stuck in hotel quarantine ahead of the Australian Open were told today that they would get no "special treatment" to leave their rooms to train, despite complaints from some players.

Australian health authorities rejected demands for tough isolation rules to be eased, as players resorted to hitting balls off windows, walls and upturned beds in the hope of being ready for the year's first Grand Slam.

The Australian Open is due to make a delayed start in Melbourne on February 8, but its troubled build-up hit further problems after positive coronavirus cases were detected on three of the 17 charter flights that carried players and staff.

The 72 players on the three planes have been deemed close contacts of the four Covid-19 cases and barred from leaving their hotel rooms for 14 days, as largely virus-free Australia tries to prevent community transmission.

Heath authorities said they discovered two more cases linked to the tournament on Monday, bringing the total for the Australian Open cluster to six.

READ MORE: Australia says 'no special treatment' after tennis stars' hotel quarantine complaints

02:28 AM

Travellers could face GPS tracking in crackdown on breaches

Travellers could face GPS tracking in a bid to crackdown on breaches of quarantine, Dominic Raab indicated on Sunday.

The Foreign Secretary refused to rule out the use of GPS data to establish if people were staying at the address they put on their locator form when they entered the UK.

He also confirmed that the Government was considering quarantine hotels where travellers would be required to stay and pick up the bill, as happens with New Zealand’s policy of “directed isolation” and Australia where arrivals self-isolating are charged between £1,500 and £2,500.

READ MORE: Travellers could face GPS tracking in bid to crackdown on quarantine breaches

02:26 AM

New travel quarantine rule kicks off

The expanded Covid-19 vaccination rollout arrives as a ban on quarantine-free travel into the UK came into force at 4am in a bid to keep out new coronavirus strains - such as those that have been discovered in Brazil and South Africa.

The new rules mean arrivals from every destination will need to self-isolate for 10 days, or receive a negative result from a coronavirus test taken at least five days after they enter the UK.

Passengers flying in from overseas will now also have to show proof of a negative Covid test before setting off.

The Foreign Secretary said on Sunday that checks at the border would be strengthened as the new measures came into effect, and vowed to "beef up" capacity to ensure people are adhering to quarantine rules.

But the Government faced criticism from Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), who said the approach to quarantining foreign arrivals and contacts of coronavirus cases had been "pretty lax" so far.

02:01 AM

Today's top stories

• Boris Johnson has hailed a new "milestone" in the race to vaccinate the country, as more than five and a half million more people will be invited to get their jabs from Monday.

• Mass testing of entire regions is being considered by ministers to help get the country out of lockdown, it has emerged, as Dominic Raab said restrictions could start to be eased in March.

• Almost a third of recovered Covid patients will end up back in hospital within five months and one in eight will die, alarming new figures have shown.

• A patient is being admitted to hospital with coronavirus “every thirty seconds”, the chief executive of NHS England has said.

• Plans to rollout Covid vaccinations 24/7 are being resisted by management consultants paid by the Government to speed up the programme, The Telegraph can disclose.

• Up to a fifth of care home staff are refusing to be vaccinated, it has emerged, with many younger workers believing they are “invincible” to the disease.

• All supermarkets face inspections in the next fortnight to ensure they are Covid-secure, as health chiefs warned “one-shopper” rules may be needed to stop family outings to stores.

• Another plane-load of incoming Australian Open players will have to serve out a strict quarantine in Melbourne, because of a positive Covid test in their midst. This takes the total number of players who cannot leave their hotel for the next fortnight to 72.