Good evening, that's it for today. Here are your Covid headlines:
Cases of the Indian variant of the coronavirus in England have risen by more than 2,000 in the space of a week, according to new official figures showing there were now 3,424 cases of the B1617.2 mutation, but Downing Street said it was still too early to say whether the variant could affect the June 21 roadmap date
Having both doses of vaccines prevents 90 percent of symptomatic infections, the first real world data from Public Health England shows, as separate data shows four in five over-60s in England are now fully vaccinated
New storage conditions for the Pfizer/BioNTech COvid-19 vaccine were approved by the UK regulator, extending the length of time the thawed vaccine can be stored at normal fridge temperatures from 5 days to 31 days
European Parliament and member state negotiators hammered out a compromise deal on plans for the Digital Green Certificate, a bloc-wide initiative aimed at restoring freedom of movement after the coronavirus pandemic
The proportion of people dying in England fell in April to its lowest level since records began, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed
People aged 34 and over in England can now book their coronavirus vaccination, and the Duke of Cambridge announced that he had received his jab
Covid China - STR/AFP Covid Switzerland - Denis Balibouse/Reuters Covid Prince William - @KensingtonRoyal
05:52 PM
Hunger for post-Covid recovery sees Malta offer residents vouchers
Malta's government has agreed to spend a total of 50 million euros (£43m) to issue vouchers worth 100 euros to every resident aged over 16 to kick-start consumer spending after the pandemic.
Following a similar scheme on the island last summer, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said vouchers worth 60 euros will be available to spend in restaurants and tourist establishments and 40 euros for shops and other services.
Some 25,000 businesses are eligible to receive payment by vouchers.
"This is a measure which will affect everyone, businesses, families and workers," Prime Minister Robert Abela told a news conference.
05:44 PM
Europe reaches deal on domestic Covid travel passport
The European Parliament and EU member states have struck a deal this evening paving the way for a Covid-19 passport for summer holidays within Europe.
"We have white smoke," tweeted EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders after the end of a fourth negotiating session between MEPs and diplomats.
The deal will allow for anybody living in the EU's 27 countries to be able to get a digital health pass to display their vaccination status, results of Covid-19 tests or whether they have recovered from a coronavirus infection.
It is seen as a key tool to save the European summer vacation period and helping countries dependent on tourists. The health pass will initially be used only for travel within the bloc.
Other countries around the world have moved in the same direction, including Israel with its "green pass", and the UK's new passport feature on the NHS app, but Europe wants its pass to be streamlined with others' soon.
Spain wants to allow entry to vaccinated British holidaymakers from the first week of June and ahead of the rest of the European Union, the country’s deputy tourism minister has said.
The country is racing to revive its tourism industry and keen “to accept citizens that can present a vaccine certificate”, said Fernando Valdes.
The EU this week agreed it would allow vaccinated non-EU holidaymakers to visit the bloc this summer, but not until later in June.
Mr Valdes said Spain will be ready sooner. He said: “Spain will have the digital certificate ready in June. We hope that [the EU] regulation will be approved on the June 21. But from the first week of June, Spain will be able to validate certificates on its borders and expedite certificates to its citizens."
The UK Government is scheduled to review its green list in the first week of June, which would be the earliest opportunity to allow quarantine-free travel to Spain for English holidaymakers.
Another strong day vaccinating yesterday with 633,876 vaccines administered. We will do this. When you get the txt get the jab. 💉💉💉 https://t.co/8JcDJnjJbO
Indian variant risks pushing Britain into third wave, Sage scientist warns
The Indian variant risks pushing Britain into a third wave of coronavirus, a Sage scientist has claimed, despite data suggesting a far more optimistic picture.
Prof Andrew Hayward, who researches infectious diseases at University College London, said he was "very concerned" about the Indian variant due to its higher transmissibility.
Asked on BBC Breakfast whether the country was at the start of the third wave, he said "I think so" and called for travel to be "minimised full-stop".
Covid UK - Paul ELLIS/AFP)
"I think what we can see is that this strain can circulate very effectively, although it was originally imported through travel to India, it's spread fairly effectively first of all within households and now more broadly within communities, so I don't really see why it wouldn't continue to spread in other parts of the country," he said.
"Obviously we're doing everything we can to contain the spread, but it's likely that more generalised measures may start to be needed to control it."
Downing Street earlier said no current data knocks the roadmap off track. Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, has also reassured that hospitalisations are very low and the strain is thought to be less transmissable than initially feared.
UK regulator extends shelf life of Pfizer jab from 5 days to 31
New storage conditions for the Pfizer/BioNTech COvid-19 vaccine have been approved by the UK regulator, extending the length of time the thawed vaccine can be stored at normal fridge temperatures from 5 days to 31 days.
The jab, the first to be approved by the UK regulator, must be stored at extremely low temperatures until use.
The changes by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) extend the shelf-life once thawed.
Dr June Raine, head of the MHRA, said the change was based on new analysis of data, adding: "Now that the jab can be stored at normal fridge temperatures for up to 31 days, it can be used in a wider range of healthcare settings, giving patients greater access to the Pfizer vaccine."
04:39 PM
UK cases of Indian variant rise again to nearly 3,500
A total of 3,424 cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus have now been confirmed in the UK, Public Health England said.
The figures are up to May 19, and represent a rise of 2,111 on the previous week. PHE said the figure is "growing rapidly".
Cases are still predominantly affecting the North West of England – particularly Bolton – and London, but "we are seeing clusters of cases across the country", PHE added.
In England 3,245 cases of B1.617.2 have now been confirmed, along with 136 in Scotland, 28 in Wales and 15 in Northern Ireland.
It is a rise on Wednesday when Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said 2,967 cases of the B1617.2 variant had been identified, up from the 2,323 declared on Monday.
However, the vaccines are working well against the strain and stopping many infections turning into serious illness and death, experts have said.
04:34 PM
Covid pharma billionaires could vaccinate the world's poor, charities say
Coronavirus vaccine profits have created at least nine billionaires whose combined wealth would be enough to inoculate all of the world's poor, a coalition of charities and activists have claimed.
The new billionaires - who include senior executives from US firm Moderna Inc and China's CanSino Biologics - have a net worth of $19.3 billion between them, according to the People's Vaccine Alliance.
That sum would be more than enough to fully vaccinate all the people in low-income countries, the alliance said, urging pharmaceutical companies to end their "monopoly" over patents and technology so other companies can manufacture the vaccines.
Covid vaccines - TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP
The figures are based on Forbes Rich List data, said the group, which is a coalition of charities and campaign organisations including Oxfam, UNAIDS and Global Justice Now. It said the calculations were based on current share prices.
"We need to urgently end these monopolies so that we can scale up vaccine production, drive down prices and vaccinate the world," said Anna Marriott, health policy manager for Oxfam.
Separately, the alliance said eight billionaires with large investments in companies producing Covid-19 vaccines have seen their combined wealth increase by $32.2 billion - enough to fully vaccinate everyone in India.
04:27 PM
Four in five over-60s in England fully vaccinated, figures suggest
Around four in five people in England aged 60 and over are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, figures suggest.
An estimated 81.6 per cent of people in this age group had received both doses of a vaccine by May 16.
Some 37.4 per cent of people aged 55 to 59 are estimated to have had both doses, along with 30.0 per cent of people aged 50 to 54, NHS England data shows.
People aged 60 and over were in the top seven groups on the priority list for vaccines, with initial doses offered to over-80s from early December and over-70s from mid-January.
04:09 PM
Keep faith in AstraZeneca vaccine, experts say
A panel of leading experts said "we mustn't bash" the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, which has a substantial role to play in vaccinating the world against Covid-19, The Telegraph's Jennifer Rigby reports.
Vaccine hesitancy surrounding the jab has risen globally after a very rare blood clotting side effect prompted a number of Western countries to stop using the jab, or recommend other vaccines for younger people.
However, it remains an "incredibly good" vaccine, said Professor Anthony Harnden, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) - the body advising on the vaccine roll-out in the UK.
Speaking at an Imperial College London virtual event, he said the decision to recommend that under-40s get a different jab in the UK was a result of the epidemiological situation here - with low levels of Covid - and it was a different picture in other countries.
"In India at the moment you'd cut your right arm off to have the AstraZeneca vaccine if you're in your late 30s," he said. "We mustn't bash this vaccine. I think it's going to be an incredibly good vaccine for the world."
Prof Heidi Larson from the Vaccine Confidence Project added: "It has been a rocky road from the start with some uncertainty and changing information, but I think it has a very important role."
Eliminating Covid is unlikely so let's learn to live with it, says expert
Eliminating Covid-19 from the world entirely is "unlikely", according to a leading government advisor (Jennifer Rigby reports).
Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) - the body advising on the vaccine roll-out - said that the world needs to start thinking about the "end game" of Covid-19, and living with the virus in the long-term.
"We need to start thinking about what the end game is here," he told an Imperial College London event. "In the world, it is unlikely that we are going to completely eliminate this virus, so I think we are going to have to come to terms with living with it."
He said that now it is a question of getting a substantial proportion of the world protected and vaccinated, particularly among high-risk groups, and then looking at other issues like booster jabs.
Here's how the surge vaccines are working in Bolton, an Indian variant hotspot:
03:39 PM
Vaccine confidence remains high, poll shows
Just one per cent of people who have had one dose of the vaccine for Covid-19 say they do not intend to have a second dose, according to a new Ipsos Mori poll.
The survey of over 8,000 adults in the UK, 3,738 of whom have had the first dose, shows that 95 per cent say they definitely will have it, and a further 4 per cent say they probably will have it.
Confidence is high regardless of the vaccine being used, but the proportion saying they would definitely have their second Astra Zeneca jab is slightly lower, at 94 per cent, compared with 98 per cent for the Pfizer vaccine.
Covid UK - Oli SCARFF/AFP
There remain pockets of hesitancy among ethnic minorities and younger age groups, however.
While 95 per cent of white Britons have already had the vaccine or intend to have it, the corresponding figure for ethnic minority Britons is 88 per cent, which has widened since March. Among 16 to 24-year-olds the figure was also 88 per cent.
03:31 PM
Latest UK deaths, cases and vaccination data is in
A further seven people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, bringing the UK total to 127,701.
This means the seven-day average of deaths has decreased again by 26.5 per cent. Hospitalisations are also continuing a downward trajectory.
As of 9am on Thursday, there had been a further 2,874 lab-confirmed cases in the UK, bringing the total to 4,455,221.
Government data up to May 19 shows that of the 58,489,834 jabs given in the UK so far.
Some 37,250,363 were first doses - a rise of 264,858 on the previous day, and 21,239,471 were second doses, an increase of 369,018.
03:01 PM
Downing Street’s plan to make Covid vaccinations seem sexy
Dating apps will be used to promote Covid vaccines to the young under plans being worked on by Downing Street, The Telegraph has learned.
Officials at Number 10 want to approach popular dating brands such as Tinder as part of a wider drive to minimise vaccine hesitancy among younger Britons.
One idea being pursued is that users could get a "blue tick" or a banner showing they have been jabbed as a way to display to others that they trust the vaccines. Another is that the Government could fund advertising on the apps describing the benefits of vaccines.
A government source familiar with the discussions said: "As we get to younger people, Tinder and all those apps will be approached to flag the importance of getting vaccinated. It might also give more people impetus to meet up and find love."
AstraZeneca jab 85 to 90pc effective, new analysis suggests
New analysis for the first time estimates that two doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine provides around 85 to 90 per cent protection against symptomatic disease.
Public Health England also estimates that 13,000 deaths have now been prevented in people aged 60 years or older in England up to May 9, having studies real-world vaccine data.
The vaccination programme around the world, using the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, is something everyone in this United Kingdom should be incredibly proud of.
The analysis also indicates that the vaccination programme has prevented around 39,100 hospitalisations in those aged 65 years and over.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said: "With the threat of new variants, it’s never been more important to get the vaccine. We have now extended the call to 34 and 35 year olds, so when you get the offer, please get the jab."
02:40 PM
Lockdown set to be relaxed in Northern Ireland next week
Northern Ireland is set to loosen lockdown rules next week. Stormont ministers have agreed to the changes from May 24, meaning:
indoor hospitality can resume and a traffic light system for foreign travel similar to England's is set to be introduced, with Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel on the "green list"
Six people from no more than two households will be able to meet in a private dwelling and stay overnight
All tourism accommodation can reopen, along with museums, galleries, cinemas and other indoor visitor attractions
A limit on the size of outdoor gatherings will increase to 500
A stay local message is to be removed, and schools can resume extra-curricular activities, indoor sports clubs and sporting competitions.
02:26 PM
Europe's top court rejects case against lockdowns
A member of the European parliament who claimed that imposing a Covid-19 lockdown was comparable to house arrest lost his case on Thursday at Europe's top rights court.
Cristian-Vasile Terhes, a centre-left MEP from Romania, saw his allegations rejected unanimously by judges as inadmissable at the European Court of Human rights in Strasbourg.
Terhes launched legal action in his home country over a strict March-May lockdown last year during the first wave of Covid-19 in Europe and he pursued the case all the way to the top human rights court in Europe.
"The level of restrictions on the applicant's freedom of movement had not been such that the general lockdown ordered by the authorities could be deemed to constitute a deprivation of liberty," judges found.
02:17 PM
EU lawmakers back Covid vaccines patent waiver
The European Parliament has urged the EU to back a push for a temporary waiver of coronavirus vaccine patents, in the face of scepticism from Brussels and key member states.
Politicians voting late Wednesday narrowly approved an amendment calling on the bloc to back an Indian and South African proposal to the World Trade Organization "for a temporary waiver on intellectual property (IP) rights for Covid-19 vaccines, equipment and treatments".
The text, which was attached to an unrelated health motion by MEPs from The Left (GUE), also "urges pharmaceutical companies to share their knowledge and data".
Earlier this month, EU leaders said they were willing to discuss patent waivers after US President Joe Biden backed the plan - but called for more details on the proposal and urged other major producers to first increase their exports of much-needed jabs.
EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told lawmakers on Wednesday that Brussels would put forward its own proposal at the WTO focused on boosting production and freeing up exports.
He insisted that Brussels would "engage constructively" to see if a temporary waiver of patents could help bolster global supplies and access to the doses.
01:36 PM
Life inside the fear factory: how the UK Government keeps us on high alert
Foreign holidays are back! So said the headlines last week when the Government’s “green list” of safe countries was revealed.
Not so fast, warned ministers, telling the public going abroad was “dangerous” and is “not for this year”.
Confused? That’s because you’re meant to be, says Laura Dodsworth, who has spent the past year investigating the Government’s use of behavioural psychology for her new book, A State of Fear.
“When you create a state of confusion, people become ever more reliant on the messaging,” she says. “Instead of feeling confident about making decisions, they end up waiting for instructions from the Government.”
Listen to her interview with Telegraph columnists Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan on this week's Planet Normal podcast:
Covid vaccines appear protective against variants, WHO Europe says
Covid-19 vaccines currently being deployed in the fight against the pandemic in Europe appear able to protect against all variants that are circulating and causing concern, the World Health Organization's regional director has said.
"All Covid-19 virus variants that have emerged so far do respond to the available, approved vaccines," Hans Kluge told a media briefing, referring to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs.
Since the latest concerning variant, known as B.1.617, was first identified in India, it has spread to at least 26 countries out of the 53 in the WHO's European region, Mr Kluge said - "from Austria, to Greece, Israel to Kyrgyzstan" - and it could displace the Kent variant.
"We are heading in the right direction, but need to keep a watchful eye," he said. "In several countries, there are pockets of increasing transmission that could quickly evolve into dangerous resurgences ...The pandemic is not over yet."
Covid Portugal - Horacio Villalobos/Getty Images
01:22 PM
EU is buoyant for a summer resembling normality
The European Union commissioner for health said on Thursday she was looking towards the summer with optimism as Covid-19 vaccinations in the bloc picked up speed.
"Over 20 million vaccinations are taking place every week in the EU, compared to a few hundred thousand per week in January," Stella Kyriakides told a news conference.
"We can now look ahead with more confidence and also look towards the summer with cautious optimism," she added, noting that 40 per cent of the EU's adult population had received at least one dose of vaccine, and 17 per cent was fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, a final round of negotiations is being held in the European Parliament this afternoon over the use of Covid-19 passport certificates, showing if a person has been vaccinated, had a recent negative test or had immunity based on recovery.
The certificates are designed to open up tourism this summer within EU states, but lawmakers are split on which countries should be opened up to travel. The scheme is separate from plans to open up to non-EU visitors, amid doubts over whether Britain will be included.
01:12 PM
Thousands taken to court last year for Covid rule breaches
More than 4,000 people were prosecuted last year for breaking coronavirus laws, according to official figures.
Some 3,536 people of the 4,367 prosecuted were convicted, with most offences related to flouting lockdown rules. The majority of these cases resulted in a fine, at an average of £374.
The Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) quarterly statistics report to December set out new offences dealt with by courts in 2020 under coronavirus laws.
Out of 4,230 prosecutions for breaches of emergency restrictions, there were 3,506 convictions. These led to 3,464 fines, three community sentences and one six month jail term.
Most (928) were handed fines of between £500 and £750, though 81 were between £1,00 and £2,500.
According to the data, no so-called 'super fines' of £10,000 or more were given by the courts last year for Covid breaches.
Analysis: Death rate in England lowest since records began
The proportion of people dying in England fell in April to its lowest level since records began, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
Just 851.2 people per 100,000 died last month, the lowest figure since the ONS started recording mortality rates in 2001. In contrast, at the first wave peak the rate was 1,859 per 100,000.
The latest figures show that 38,899 people died in April, 6.1 per cent fewer than the five-year average.
Just 2.4 per cent of all deaths mentioned Covid on the death certificate, a 77.6 per cent decrease from March, the largest month-on-month decline since the pandemic began.
The new data provide more evidence that the NHS is in little danger of being overwhelmed in the near future, with deaths from most causes lower than normal.
Thai town offers free cows to boost vaccine campaign
A district of northern Thailand has launched a raffle campaign for its vaccinated residents to win a live cow per week for the rest of the year, in a bid to boost the local Covid-19 vaccination drive.
From next month, one lucky vaccinated villager in the Mae Chaem district of Chiang Mai province will be randomly chosen every week to win a young cow worth around 10,000 baht (£225.66).
The campaign, set to run for 24 weeks, has been met with enthusiasm in the town of 43,000 since it was announced earlier this week. More than 4,000 people in priority groups have already registered for shots, officials said.
"Our vaccine registration numbers have gone from hundreds to thousands in a couple of days," district chief Boonlue Thamtharanurak told Reuters.
"The villagers love cows. Cows can be sold for cash."
It comes after some US states offered freebies to boost uptake.
12:26 PM
Data 'failure' by NHS test and trace 'helped Indian variant spread'
Failings by NHS test and trace have fuelled a surge in the Indian variant in some of the worst-hit areas, a report suggests.
More than 700 positive cases failed to be tracked, after eight local authorities were unable to access full data for three weeks between April and May, the BBC has reported.
The highest number of missing cases occurred in Blackburn with Darwen, in Lancashire, now one of the hotspots for the Indian variant. Almost 300 positive cases which should have triggered contact tracing went missing.
Labour said the failings had left local health experts “in the dark” for weeks as the threat spread.
In response, the Prime Minister's spokesman told reporters this lunchtime: "In this specific instance, all positive cases were contacted and told to self-isolate for 10 days.
"As you know, there was a short delay when asking some of those positive cases to provide details of individuals they had contacted since contracting Covid.
"This issue was across a small number of local authority areas and was quickly resolved."
Expect a 'knock on your door' from the holiday police, travellers are told
No 10 has been accused of 'heavy handedness' after warning amber list travellers to expect a knock on the door upon their return.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps sought to put people off travelling to countries on the amber list this morning, reminding them of the "heck of a lot of hassle" they will face when returning to the UK, as well as warning that "people will come to your house to check your quarantine".
It comes after Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, confirmed that people should expect a "knock on the door" when quarantining at home, with the Government claiming to have the capacity to carry out 10,000 home visits a day.
However MPs hit back at what they described as "heavy handedness". David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, called the move "heavy-handed" and said "it won’t work yet again". He added: "It’ll be just as effective as the last test and trace."
Richard Tice, leader of the Reform Party, said the Government's priorities are "all wrong".
He asked: "Surely we want police to focus on preventing knife crime, catching burglars not spying on holidaymakers. What sort of police state have we become?"
11:49 AM
No significant changes with Indian variant in past 24 hours
No 10 said it was "still too early" to determine whether the Indian variant could delay lifting all coronavirus restrictions on June 21 but that there had "not been any significant changes" in the past 24 hours.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: "At the moment we are keeping a very close eye on the data.
"There is still, similar to yesterday, not been any significant changes that currently suggest we need to change our course of action.
"We are monitoring that very carefully but it is still too early to make a definitive judgment.
"We will monitor the data, crucially both on hospitalisation rates in these outbreak areas and the ongoing work on the transmissibility - both that work is ongoing, so we will aim to update next week."
The spokesman said there was no new data expected to be published on Thursday regarding the Indian variant's transmissibility or its impact on vaccines being rolled out in the UK.
11:31 AM
Where is the Indian variant spreading in the UK?
Our data team have crunched the latest numbers.
11:15 AM
Glastonbury Lite: September festival given green light
Glastonbury organisers have been given the go-ahead to host a festival in September, but for one day only and without any campers.
Mendip Council has granted a licence for an event that has been dubbed ‘Glastonbury Lite’.
The licence allows for a one-day music festival on the Worthy Farm site in Somerset with up to 50,000 attendees. The main festival, which has been cancelled for the second year running due to Covid, accommodates 200,000.
Emily Eavis, who runs the festival with her father, Michael, said earlier this week that the September event would be called Equinox and would be a scaled-up version of the annual fundraising concert for local residents and workers.
India steps up attack on 'black fungus' cases hitting Covid-19 patients
At least 90 people who recovered from Covid-19 have died from a rare black fungal infection in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, as the alarming spread of the infection is labelled as an “epidemic”.
There are currently 850 people hospitalised with mucormycosis in Maharashtra, home to India’s capital of Mumbai, although the authorities have warned they will have to treat 5,000 patients over the next few months.
Instances of mucormycosis – known as “black fungus” – were extremely rare before India’s second wave of Covid-19 and only affected people who were severely immunocompromised, including diabetics or those suffering from HIV/Aids. India has ordered tighter surveillance of the fungus across all regions, officials said.
Without early treatment, the black fungus has a mortality rate of 50 per cent, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventing, and doctors in India are now being forced to remove the eyes or jaws of patients to save lives.
Covid India - Anuwar Ali Hazarika/Barcroft Media via Getty
10:40 AM
Efforts to tackle 'vaccine apartheid' at major health summit may falter
There are growing concerns that a major G20 summit on Friday will yield few concrete commitments from wealthy countries, a blow for those pushing for funds to stem gaps limiting the scope of global initiatives for vaccines, drugs and tests.
Many hoped the global health summit – a one off event hosted by the European Commission and G20 President Italy – would be a big moment to boost both immediate and long term funds for the Act-Accelerator, a scheme to develop and equitably distribute diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
According to the World Health Organization the initiative, which aimed to raise $34 billion and includes the Covax vaccine distribution programme, is facing a funding shortfall of roughly $18.5 billion for 2021 alone.
But a leaked draft of the declaration outlining conclusions of the summit, seen by The Telegraph and still subject to change, is vague and may not tackle "vaccine apartheid".
Exclusive: Plans to roll out Covid vaccines to all over-18s in June
The vaccine rollout could reach those in their early-20s in the first weeks of next month, The Telegraph understands, with hopes that all over-18s could be offered jabs in June.
The programme will move to those aged 30 and over next week, while extra supplies are being sent to areas worst hit by the Indian variant.
Ministers have said that the Government is on track to meet its target to offer first doses to all adults by the end of July.
Covid Bolton
But NHS managers have begun drawing up plans which accelerate the timetable, amid concern about the spread of the Indian variant among young adults.
From Thursday, the health service will offer jabs to those aged 34 and over, with the programme expected to reach those aged 30 and over next week.
'I have no idea what jab I've had': being part of a vaccine booster trial
Chris Stokel-Walker is one of 4,000 people enlisted on a UK-wide vaccine trial run by French company Valneva, testing a new potential weapon in the armoury against the spread of the coronavirus.
It was the highest number of people I had been with in one place, outside of the supermarket, since a nervously-eaten Italian meal at the height of last summer’s Eat Out to Help Out campaign. Ward 11 of the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, alongside 26 other sites across the UK, was full with patients on the morning of May 10. Ordinarily I try to stay as far away from hospitals as I can unless absolutely necessary, but I was here for good reason.
The EU's executive arm has finalised a third vaccine contract with Pfizer and BioNTech through 2023 for an additional 1.8 billion doses of their Covid-19 shot.
The European Commission said the deal, which was agreed on behalf of all 27 EU countries earlier this month, will allow the buying of 900 million doses of the current shots and of a serum adapted to the virus' variants, with an option to purchase an extra 900 million shots.
The signature of the agreement comes less than a week before a court hearing in Brussels pitting the Commission against the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is accused by the EU of failing to deliver the promised number of doses of its own vaccine.
The Commission said that the deal with Pfizer-BioNTech stipulates that the production of doses must be based in the EU and that essential components are sourced from the region.
"From the start of the supply in 2022, the delivery to the EU is guaranteed," the Commission said.
10:02 AM
Ministers arrive in Downing Street
Health Secretary Matt Hancock arrives in Downing Street - Jonathan Brady/PA Boris Johnson outside 10 Downing Street - Henry Nicholls/Reuters
09:45 AM
Covid the ninth leading cause of death in England last month
Covid-19 was the ninth leading cause of death in England last month, the lowest ranking since September 2020, new figures show.
A total of 941 deaths were due to coronavirus in April, the equivalent of 2.4% of all deaths registered in England, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The leading cause of death was ischaemic heart diseases (4,144 deaths), followed by dementia and Alzheimer's disease (4,018 deaths).
Covid-19 was the leading cause of death in England every month from November 2020 to February 2021.
In March it dropped from top spot to third place, before falling to ninth place in last month.
April was also the first month where deaths in England were below the five-year average (6.1% lower) since August 2020, the ONS said.
09:24 AM
ICYMI | Catch up with Matt Hancock's Covid briefing
The Health Secretary led a Covid press briefing from Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon.
If you missed it, catch up below.
09:03 AM
EasyJet chief: 'Amber list very confusing to say the least'
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren described the Government's messaging on whether people should go on holiday to amber list destinations as "very confusing to say the least".
Asked if easyJet customers were flying to amber countries for leisure despite Government guidance not to do so, he replied: "Yes, people are booking flights and they're going there on holidays.
"I think that the view was to apply common sense, and I think that there's a lot of people out there who have as a top priority coming through this pandemic to go on that holiday break.
"That is what people are doing."
08:50 AM
Appeal to travel firms to offer flexibility to customers
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged travel firms to be flexible to customers facing problems as a result of restrictions.
He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "I just appeal to the holiday companies, and there is protection in place for particularly package holidays through the Atol system, to be as flexible as possible and as helpful as possible.
"It is, I know, a frustrating situation as we all sit here, frankly, and wait to see what the virus does next."
He acknowledged that "there's no doubt at all that coronavirus has made life impossibly difficult not just for holidaymakers but for travel companies as well".
On Times Radio, Mr Shapps said an amber list country was "not free and open travel" and "we ask people not to go to these places for holidays".
"So travel companies who stick to that and refuse to rebook, I would suggest are not in the right place."
08:42 AM
'We are returning to a world which looks more normal, I hope'
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said decisions on expanding the green list would depend on data showing the state of the pandemic in the various countries.
"We are reviewing this all the time, every three weeks, the next review is in the first week of June and we'll have to see what happens," he told BBC Radio 4's Today.
Mr Shapps added: "Our message is very straightforward, which is 'just a little bit of patience, everyone'.
"I know it's been an incredibly tough year and there are extreme circumstance where people will feel that it is the right thing to do - perhaps because they have a sick family member and some extreme situations where they'll travel in the orange category. But by and large we are just asking people to be a little bit patient as other countries catch up with our world-leading vaccination programme and then people will be able to, I hope, travel.
"We are returning to a world which looks more normal, I hope."
08:26 AM
Football fans return to stadiums
West Bromwich Albion fans fill The Hawthorns for their game against West Ham in the Premier League - Shaun Botterill/Getty Lincoln City fans ahead of the Sky Bet League One, playoff semi final at the LNER Stadium, Lincoln - Zac Goodwin/PA West Bromwich Albion fans applaud the players prior to kick-off during the Premier League match at The Hawthorns - Geoff Caddick/PA
07:59 AM
More countries needed on green list, says minister
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he wanted to see more countries added to the "green list" for travel.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today: "The amber list and the red list are not for holidaymakers, that's not the purpose of those lists at this time.
"We just think that after a year of lockdowns in this country, of people coming forward in record numbers to get their vaccines, we do not want to be in a position of taking risks at this stage about our unlock."
Asked if he was pushing for the green list to be extended he said: "Of course. The reason for that is we have ended up getting way ahead in terms of our vaccination programme in this country and we are just having to wait for other countries to catch up with us.
"That's going to gradually happen, obviously, you can see it's happening, so that list should expand."
07:21 AM
Transport Secretary wants red and amber list arrivals to be segregated at airports
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he wanted passengers arriving from amber and red list countries to be segregated in airports.
"A lot of this is to do with the practicalities, of course, and everybody has to be tested before they are even able to get on to a flight to the UK," he told the BBC.
"But I do want to see people separated out as much as is practically possible and we have asked, and I think Heathrow will respond to this at the beginning of next month."
There was "excess space" due to the low level of travel and Heathrow is examining using a "spare terminal to bring in perhaps the red flights separately".
07:12 AM
'We ask people not to', says minister on amber list holidays
Asked if it was "irresponsible" to go on holiday to an amber list country, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "We ask people not to... that is the situation.
"If you do go away to an amber country - for whatever reason - you end up having to take a vast series of tests: pre-departure tests before you can return, one on day two, one on day eight, if you wanted to release early one on day five as well, there's a lot of cost involved in that," he told the BBC.
"You have to quarantine at home, people will come and visit you.
"So there's an awful lot that you have to do and clearly most people are not going to want to go through all of that when a little bit of patience is starting to see other countries catch up."
07:09 AM
Prince William gets Covid vaccine
The Duke of Cambridge has received his Covid vaccine.
Sharing a picture on the family's official Twitter account, he said: "On Tuesday I received my first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
"To all those working on the vaccine rollout - thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do."
On Tuesday I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
To all those working on the vaccine rollout - thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do. pic.twitter.com/8QP6ao5fEb
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) May 20, 2021
06:48 AM
Be patient, urges Transport Secretary on amber list
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged people to be patient and wait for the global coronavirus situation to improve if they wanted to go on holiday to countries which were currently on the "amber list".
Asked why holidays were still being sold to countries which are on that list, Mr Shapps told Sky News the Government had moved away from a system where things were "banned and illegal" to a situation where people were expected to "apply a bit of common sense".
He urged people to have "a little more patience as the world catches up with our vaccine programme".
06:44 AM
Minister defends direct flights from India
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the continued availability of direct flights from countries such as India on the coronavirus "red list".
He told Sky News: "You cannot prevent British citizens from returning home, no country can ban its own citizens."
People on the flights were only British or Irish citizens, or those with permanent residence, and "it's illegal come here as a holidaymaker from a red list country".
Mr Shapps said it was simpler to send people to quarantine hotels from a direct flight.
If there were no direct flights "you would be forcing a situation where people end up spread amongst many other flights and making it harder to carry out the mandatory hotel quarantine".
06:39 AM
Smoking likely to have killed more than Covid last year, says Whitty
In a lecture on the future of health trends, the chief medical officer said "a small number of companies" were killing people for profit.
Prof Whitty said almost no progress was being made in fighting lung cancer, and that smoking-related diseases killed around 90,000 people each year – more than the pandemic. He said most of those deaths were avoidable.
Speaking at Gresham College in London, he said: "Lung cancer is now the UK's number one killer in cancer. Almost one in five people will die from this.
"The reason that people like me get very concerned and upset about this cancer is it's almost entirely caused for profit. The great majority of people who die of this cancer die so that a small number of companies make profits from the people that have become addicted in young ages and then keep addicted to something which they know will kill them."
The latest figures suggest that 14.1 per cent of those aged 18 smoke cigarettes – around 6.9 million people.
06:27 AM
JCVI member 'optimistic' UK can achieve population immunity
JCVI member Prof Adam Finn said he was "optimistic that we are, in particularly in the UK with the high coverage we're achieving, and the extremely effective vaccines we've got, that we can achieve population immunity, and I'm afraid it's an open question as to whether we need to immunise any children at all. And if we do, how many children we need to immunise."
06:26 AM
'We shouldn't immunise children as matter of principle'
On the ethics of vaccinating young people in the UK when adults are dying abroad, Prof Finn said: "Well there is the global perspective but even if we just look at it as a domestic issue, I think in normal times, just as in pandemic times, we simply wouldn't want to immunise anybody without needing to.
"It's an invasive thing to do, it costs money and it causes a certain amount of discomfort, and vaccines have side-effects, so if we can control this virus without immunising children we shouldn't immunise children as a matter of principle."
06:19 AM
Children 'not very' infectious to adults around them
Asked about children spreading the virus, Prof Finn of the JCVI said: "Well actually the evidence we've got with children, particularly young children, is that they are not very infectious to each other or to adults around them, and that the majority of the transmission of the infection is in the adult population in fact.
"Because we've immunised so many older adults, that's now tending to be in younger adults, and there is a certain amount of transmission going on in secondary school so in teenagers, but in fact we've been surprised about how little transmission we've picked up in schools and of course this time around, there's been a lot more testing and awareness of what's going on in schools."
06:18 AM
JCVI still undecided on vaccinating children
Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme
it had not been decided whether to vaccinate children but he was confident the UK could reach population immunity.
He said: "It's undecided at this point. I don't think it's been ruled out, but I do think that we're clear that the main priority at the moment is to try and immunise as many people as possible who are at risk of getting really sick with this virus, because that's the one thing we want to avoid is another big surge of hospitalisations and deaths.
"That isn't going to happen in children because fortunately one of the few good things about this pandemic is children are very rarely seriously affected by this infection."
06:17 AM
Today's front page
Here is your Daily Telegraph on Thursday, May 20.
dt
05:53 AM
US weighs changes to travel restrictions
The Biden administration has been weighing changes to sweeping travel restrictions that bar much of the world's population from coming to the US, but has reached no decisions, government and industry officials told Reuters.
Ambassadors from the 27 European Union countries on Wednesday approved a European Commission proposal from May 3 to loosen the criteria to determine "safe" countries and to let in fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere, EU sources said.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference on Wednesday that any decision to lift restrictions "ultimately is a public health decision and there is an interagency process and obviously the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)" is taking a leading role.
Australia's peak medical body on Thursday warned the country's residents were "sitting ducks" for Covid-19, as business leaders call for the international border to be reopened faster despite a sluggish national vaccination drive.
The Australian Medical Association said it was worried many Australians were delaying getting vaccinated because of the country's success in stamping out the virus, and urged authorities to rollout a more effective advertising campaign.
Australia's federal government budget assumes vaccination of the country's 20 million adult population will be completed by the end of year. The rollout has gained pace in recent weeks - around a third of the 3.3 million doses administered so far were given in the last three weeks - but remains behind many other developed nations.
04:56 AM
India reports 276,110 new infections
India reported on Thursday 276,110 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,874.
The South Asian nation's infection tally stands at 25.77 million, with a death toll of 287,122, health ministry data showed.
04:17 AM
Welsh Government announces £100m to help clear NHS backlog
The Welsh Government has announced a £100 million investment aimed at reducing the record backlog plaguing the country's health system and "kick-starting" the industry's recovery from the pandemic.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the money will be spent on new equipment, staff, technology and finding new ways of working to help health boards improve services by increasing capacity and cutting waiting times.
According to statistics from NHS Wales, a record 549,353 people were awaiting treatment or surgery by the end of February 2021 - the highest number since data first started being collected in 2011.
The allocation of the initial £100m will include £13m for Cardiff and Vale to increase capacity for a range of therapies and diagnostics, including staff recruitment and two new mobile theatres
02:31 AM
Singapore asks big tech to carry correction notice on virus strain
Children walk home with their guardians as the country prepares to shut all schools and switch to home-based learning until the end of the term due to a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases - AFP
Singapore on Thursday ordered Facebook and Twitter to carry a correction notice to users of the social media platforms in the country over what it says is a false statement about a new virus variant originating in Singapore.
The ministry of health said it was aware of the statement circulating online on media outlets and social media platforms, which implied that a new, previously unknown variant of originated in Singapore and risked spreading to India from the city-state.
The move came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a Twitter post this week that a new form of the virus that was particularly harmful to children had come to Singapore, and urged for a ban on flights.
Both the Singapore and Indian governments have criticised the opposition politician, saying his comments were not based on facts and were "irresponsible".
11:54 PM
Young people suffering long Covid, research suggests
Younger people are among the one in seven adults with coronavirus who go on to suffer long Covid, new research suggests.
US experts found that people with Covid-19 were more likely to suffer health problems stretching into the long term than those who had never had coronavirus.
They found that one in seven (14 per cent) adults aged under 65 had at least one new condition that required medical care in the three-week to six-month period after catching Covid.
This was 5 per cent higher than a comparison group of people without coronavirus in 2020.
The figures match those for long Covid produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which said in April that almost one in seven people in the UK who test positive for Covid-19 are still suffering symptoms three months later.
The US research, published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at the period from three weeks to six months after initial infection and found that people suffered a range of conditions.
The shadow minister for mental health has revealed that she struggled to get out of bed at the height of the pandemic after seeing dozens of Covid patients dying in hospitals.
A QR code provider used for Covid-19 contact tracing has been fined for allegedly using customers’ personal data to send more than 80,000 nuisance emails.
Former NBA guard Darius Morris has died at the age of 33. He played for five teams during his four NBA seasons. Morris played college basketball at Michigan.
Affluent Americans may want to double-check how much of their bank deposits are protected by government-backed insurance. The rules governing trust accounts just changed.
It’s key to note that we’re not saying the “best team” or “best roster.” Instead, we’re talking about the best confluence of factors that can outline a path for survival and then success.
Miami Heat president Pat Riley rebuked comments Jimmy Butler made about the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, while also implying that his star needs to play more.
Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman discuss the Padres-Marlins trade that sent Luis Arraez to San Diego, as well as recap all the action from this weekend in baseball and send birthday wishes to hall-of-famer Willie Mays.
An annual government report offered a glimmer of good news for Social Security and a jolt of good news for Medicare even as both programs continue to be on pace to run dry next decade.
