Vaccine plea from PM: 'Now is the moment'

And here's a look at the UK headlines before we go:

• More than 13 million people in the UK have had their first Covid vaccine - including 90% of over-70s
• The PM said "now is the moment" for the remaining two million people in the top four priority groups to book their jab
• The World Health Organization has said the 12-week interval between Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses - as is currently happening in the UK - makes it "more effective"

• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the government's proposed 10-year jail term for lying about overseas travel is an "empty threat"
• Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Please don't go ahead and book holidays"
• But his plea was "puerile and nonsensical", according to Sue Ockwell of the Association of Independent Tour Operators
• Scotland reached the milestone of vaccinating one million people
• But across the UK there is a worrying shortfall in the number of care staff to have had Covid vaccinations, a survey of almost 1,500 services suggests

• And finally, 100-year-old D-Day veteran Tommy Trotter has received 3,000 cards after his 100th birthday party was cancelled due to lockdown

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Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic is coming to a close.

A lot has happened today. To sum it all up, here's a round-up of the main global headlines:

• The president of the European Commission has admitted that the EU's vaccine rollout has been too slow. After criticism, Ursula von der Leyen said that "we're still not where we want to be", because "we were late to authorise" the vaccines
• US chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci says the country has vaccinated about 20,000 pregnant women, with no adverse side effects. Pregnant women were not included in the original clinical trials for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines

• South Africa's government says it's considering swapping or selling the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a small study suggested a "minimal" effect against the country's new variant
• People in Israel who've been vaccinated are going to be allowed back into hotels, gyms and other leisure facilities in two weeks. The country has vaccinated almost 40% of its population of nine million people
• Germany will extend lockdown measures until 7 March but hairdressers will be allowed to reopen from 1 March, Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced
• The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends using the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca even in countries tackling new variants of coronavirus

• The WHO and Unicef have warned of global vaccine inequality, urging world leaders to "look beyond their borders and employ a vaccine strategy that can actually end the pandemic and limit variants"

Nicola MuirheadCopyright: Nicola Muirhead

When the coronavirus hit the UK, Nicola Muirhead, like many photographers, set out to record her experience.

She photographed the people and places around her but soon felt the images needed something extra to bring the unseen virus home to the viewer.

"I started investigating ways in which I could metaphorically 'reveal' this unseen virus in my pictures," she says, "to expose its lurking presence in the skin and air and manifest it in my pictures - to identify it - marking this time in place in our history."

Muirhead began to treat the pictures with a variety of "ritualistic disinfecting", exposing them to household cleaning products meant to help stop the spread of coronavirus, such as hand sanitiser, soap, and bleach.

Here's our gallery of Nicola's work where she talks about what's next.

Nicola MuirheadCopyright: Nicola Muirhead

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A D-Day veteran has been sent more than 3,000 cards after a party marking his 100th birthday was cancelled due to lockdown.

Tommy Trotter, a former Northumberland fusilier, was "over the moon" after seeing the cards laid out at the Don War Memorial Bar in Thornaby, Teesside.

Among the messages was a letter from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

He said: "I've never had nowt like this before, it's lovely."

Read more here

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Scotland's transport secretary says he is pressing the UK government to close a loophole which could allow travellers to avoid new Covid quarantine rules.

Michael Matheson told BBC Scotland the current UK arrangements for enforced isolation in hotels were "inadequate".

New quarantine rules for people arriving into England only apply to people arriving from 33 countries deemed "high risk", but Scotland's apply to all travellers who have been abroad.

The Scottish government has expressed concern that travellers could avoid the rules in Scotland by flying into England first.

Read more

Derbyshire PoliceCopyright: Derbyshire Police

Three people who travelled 150 miles because they were "bored" of lockdown have been fined and had their car seized.

Derbyshire Police said two men and a woman drove from London to Baslow, Derbyshire, on Monday afternoon.

After questioning the reason for their trip, officers also discovered the driver's Albanian driving licence had expired.

Police said all three were fined £200 for breaching Covid-19 rules.

For more on the lockdown rules in your area you can read our guide here.

Many business owners have seen their customer numbers dwindle as a result of the pandemic - including mechanic Jim Walsh.

His car repair business was on the brink of collapse due to the fact there are less drivers on the road during lockdown.

But the garage is now fully booked this week and busy for the next fortnight after his daughter, Harley, posted a single tweet to drum up business.

"It just shows that there's good people and it's nice to see that on social media," she said.

England's deputy chief medical officer has said it "really concerns" him that fewer BAME people may get the Covid vaccine.

Prof Jonathan Van-Tam made the comments while answering audience questions about vaccines and Covid misinformation on the BBC's News Channel and Asian Network earlier.

He said he was worried "the uptake in minority ethnic groups is not going to be as rapid or as high" compared to the white population.

However, he did stress that vaccine uptake has been very high among people who have been offered it so far.

He also expressed concern about fake news about vaccines.

Read more

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More than one million people have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine in Scotland.

The Scottish government said the milestone was reached on Wednesday and the vaccination programme was now moving "at pace".

Ministers say they are on track to inoculate everyone in the top priority groups - including everyone aged over 70 - by 15 February

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier described the recent rate of vaccinations in the country -in spite of severe weather - as "nothing short of extraordinary".

Retired businessman John Loch was among those being immunised at the NHS Louisa Jordan in Glasgow as the landmark figure was reached.

The 69-year-old from Bearsden says: "It is exciting to be a part of this milestone moment."

During his Covid briefing earlier, PM Boris Johnson urged the two million people yet to take up their offer of a Covid jab in the UK to "come forward" this week.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

About 20,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated in the US so far, and there have been "no red flags" in their reactions to it, Anthony Fauci has said.

Dr Fauci, chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, told a White House press briefing that pregnant women and children hadn't been included in the original clinical trials for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

However, he said clinical trials including pregnant women are either already under way or are planned for the near future.

Dr Fauci said the vaccination of pregnant women was being monitored by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Food and Drug Administration.

BBCCopyright: BBC

There is a worrying shortfall in the number of care staff to have had Covid vaccinations, a survey of almost 1,500 services in the UK suggests.

Just under half of care homes for older people have more than 30% of staff who have not had a vaccine, according to the research by the National Care Forum.

The survey also confirms staff hesitancy is a significant factor in the slow uptake.

Verona Thomas, a unit manager at Saffron House nursing home in Bristol, says she had initial concerns - but worrying about what would happen to loved ones if she caught the virus changed her mind.

"I work with quite vulnerable adults...So it was a case of doing my best to protect them," she said.

It is now just under 24 hours until the Lunar New Year for people in China (12 February) and during this period it is common for people in the country to gather for family meals, or large banquet gatherings.

This year, China’s official People’s Daily newspaper is urging people not to eat wild animals during the holidays. It is sharing posters that show the silhouette of animals including snakes, hedgehogs and turtles, and telling people to avoid contact with them.

“Do not illegally hunt, trade or eat wild animals,” it says. The campaign, which uses the hashtag #DontEatWildAnimalsDuringSpringFestival, has so far been seen by more than 9.5 million people.

People's DailyCopyright: People's Daily

The posters have echoes of ones that circulated nationally last year at this time, back when the first coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan drew international attention. At the time, there was evident nervousness in the country about animal consumption being a possible reason for Covid-19.

In May, the original epicentre of the coronavirus, Wuhan, banned eating and hunting wild animals amid these fears. And over the last year, other regions have stepped up regulations to ban the consumption of animals.

In recent weeks, Chinese officials have also been updating “China’s law on animal epidemic prevention” to limit contact between animals and humans that could lead to disease. In late January, it became a requirement that pet owners keep their dogs on leads, to prevent potential diseases such as rabies.

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Returning to the Downing Street briefing, Boris Johnson said it was good to see the World Health Organization's support for the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on everyone over 18, including the over-65s.

You'll remember France and Germany cast doubt on its efficacy in the older population and restricted its use.

Johnson went on to say the WHO had also supported the UK's decision to leave a 12-week interval between the first and second dose.

This is something of a turnaround.

Initially, the WHO had recommended a gap of up to six weeks between doses, only in exceptional circumstances.

Now though, its scientific advisers say giving two doses eight-12 weeks apart increases the vaccine's effectiveness and provides greater protection.

Our health correspondent James Gallagher has been looking in more detail at the WHO's latest findings.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the 10-year jail term announced on Tuesday for people who lie about having been in a "red list" country.

The former lawyer says: "I've prosecuted many cases that have ended in a 10-year sentence and I know an empty threat when I see it."

"The effectiveness of what happens at the border is to do with testing and quarantining but pretending there's going to be a 10-year sentence when in reality I don't think there is isn't really helping anyone," he says.

Starmer has called for Boris Johnson to give "as much detail as possible" in his roadmap out of lockdown in the week of 22 February.

He wants to know "roughly when the vaccination programme will be finished, the measures for controlling the variant and therefore what the milestones are", he says.

Starmer says the government needs to "stop putting out mixed messages" over whether UK residents can expect to go on a summer holiday this year.

"The prime minister one week was saying he was optimistic about holidays then you've got the transport secretary saying don't book holidays - that isn't helping businesses, it's not helping families," he says.

Some people who have recovered from Covid-19 have reported a loss of smell, a condition known as anosmia - or distorted tastes and smells, known as parosmia.

I've been chatting to three women who tell me they're struggling with these symptoms.

Victoria says: "Going into public toilets is actually quite nice...it just smells of sweet hay" but "onions, garlic, coffee, all the things that are meant to smell nice and taste nice, taste revolting."

The prime minister couldn’t bring himself to say people should not book a holiday right now.

Instead he advised people to wait for the result of the government’s lockdown review in the week of 22 February. So, who should people believe?

Ministers promising a great British summer or those telling them not to book their place by a pool quite yet?

I imagine most people have more pressing questions - such as when they might see their grandchildren again or get to have a cup of tea with their mum…

But it's a question that tests how the people running the country see the coming weeks and months. At the moment, caution is the watchword in government.

Boris Johnson is desperate to ensure that this lockdown is the last but uncertainty runs through their calculations. Right now, ministers can't offer simple answers to questions that this time last year would have sounded absurd.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The prime minister has just finished giving a Downing Street press briefing, alongside the UK's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

If you scroll back you can catch up on all the detail but here's a quick recap:

• More than 13 million people in the UK have had their first Covid vaccine - including 90% of over 70s
• The government's target of reaching 15 million people by mid-February is less than a week away and the UK has made "great strides", the PM said
• He appealed to the remaining 2 million in the first four groups to come forward and book their jabs. "Now is the moment," he said
• This is not so the government can "hit some numerical target" but "so the country can take another step on the long and hard road back to normality," the PM said

• He welcomed support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be used in over-18s and over-65s
• WHO also supports the 12-week interval between the two doses "indeed they say the longer interval provides greater protection", says the PM
• When asked about summer holidays and weddings, Johnson says it's "too early" to say and will set out more detail on the road map to lifting lockdown restrictions on 22 February
• The government is keeping an eye on a new mutation of the UK Covid variant found in Bristol, Vallance says

• Lateral flow tests are good at picking up people with a high viral load but they aren't as sensitive as PCR tests so are not a 100% guarantee that you haven't got it, says Vallance

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Nigel Praities from the Pharmaceutical Journal says that community pharmacies have been a "vital lifeline" for people during the pandemic. He warns that they are yet to have their additional costs from the pandemic reimbursed, and he asks how many pharmacies will close before the government tackles the issue.

Johnson says that "community pharmacies provide an outstanding healthcare resource" for people across the country. He adds that pharmacies can "play a very important role" in getting harder to reach people vaccinated.

"People trust pharmacies, they know where to find them," he says.

He states that he wants to make sure pharmacies are reimbursed as soon as possible.

That is the final question and ends the briefing. We will bring you a round-up shortly.

The next question is to do with what the latest scientific evidence says about those who have had coronavirus already and if they need the jab.

Vallance says if you have had Covid, most people get antibodies, but it is "really important to get the vaccine as well" as it will "give a boost".

He adds: "It is not a reason to avoid vaccination."

The PM is then asked about proposals for booster jabs in the autumn to tackle new variants.

Johnson says: "We don't see any evidence that the vaccines don't have a beneficial impact against all the variants, and they are all likely to have some beneficial impacts."

But he says it is better to "get ready for a world where we do have booster jabs in the autumn and maybe beyond", and to start to think of it as "a flu jab - something elderly and vulnerable people have every year".