As it happened: Williamson pledges cash for pupils to catch up

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And before we go, here is what has been happening around the UK.

• No child's prospects should be "blighted" by the pandemic, the education secretary says, as he sets out £700m in funding to help pupils catch up
• Among plans to help students make up for lost lessons announced by Gavin Williamson are summer classes and one-to-one tutor sessions
• Everyone on the learning disability register will be prioritised for a Covid jab, the government says, after a plea from BBC DJ Jo Whiley
• The Radio 2 presenter says she is "so happy" and "relieved" at the change
• In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon says she will move faster than the timetable she has set out for leaving lockdown if it is safe to do so
• All adults in Wales will be offered a jab by 31 July, its health minister Vaughan Gething says
• The UK's Welsh Secretary says England's schools return is in line with advice and any differences with Wales are "political" as Wales's education minister warns it could "pile pressure" on the NHS
• Reading and Leeds Festivals will return this summer with organisers saying they are "very confident" they will go ahead, with social contact rules due to end on 21 June
• A further 9,938 coronavirus cases are recorded across the UK, as well as 442 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to government figures.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

We’re wrapping up soon. But before we do, here is an overview of the stories that made headlines around the world today.

• Ghana has become the first country to receive coronavirus vaccines through a global sharing initiative known as Covax
• New data indicates the experimental Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine is 85% effective in preventing serious cases of Covid-19
• A study of coronavirus cases in Denmark shows people infected with the UK variant have a 60% higher risk of being admitted to hospital, the country’s health minister says
• The administration of US President Joe Biden says it will deliver more than 25 million masks across the country as part of its plan to curb the coronavirus
• The EU is “catching up” with the UK’s vaccination drive, the European commission president says, addressing criticism of the bloc’s rollout
• Hungary becomes the first country in the EU to start administering the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine
• The number of coronavirus infections recorded worldwide has been in decline for six consecutive weeks, the World Health Organization says.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Homeless people in Bournemouth are being offered Covid-19 vaccinations as a part of a bid to protect vulnerable communities.

Two hundred people are expected to receive their first dose of vaccine on Wednesday.

GPs are organising the pop-up clinic to reach the homeless, rough sleepers and those in temporary accommodation.

Dr Simon Rees, clinical director of South Coast Medical Group, says the reaction was "incredibly positive".

He says: "It's about engaging with this group of patients, really encouraging them to come in, setting it up and having a whole a day where they're able to have the vaccination."

Support teams working with homeless people and rough sleepers engaged with them in the run up to the clinic, which was attended by invite only.

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A senior NHS leader has reminded influential stars including actress Gwyneth Paltrow of their "duty of responsibility" when talking about Covid treatments.

Paltrow recently wrote on her blog that contracting Covid-19 had left her with "some long-tail fatigue and brain fog".

She said a "functional medicine practitioner" had recommended an "intuitive fasting" healing regime.

But NHS England's Prof Stephen Powis says some of her methods are "really not the solutions we'd recommend".

As part of her recovery, the Hollywood-star-turned-lifestyle-guru said she was on a mainly "keto[genic] and plant-based" diet, with no sugar or alcohol. She fasts until 11:00 every day and takes infrared saunas.

"We need to take long Covid seriously and apply serious science," says Prof Powis.

Speaking at the Downing Street conference earlier Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said the wearing of face masks in secondary schools will be reviewed at Easter.

The measure has been brought in to reduce transmission in places where social distancing may not be able to be maintained.

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With many schools having closed during lockdown and pupils missing classes while self-isolating the government has asked secondary schools in England to consider offering face-to-face learning over the summer holidays this year.

A £720m package is being announced to help pupils in England catch up - although teachers' unions say more is needed.

As well as summer schools other options to help students catch up are:

• Weekly tutoring - weekly one-to-one sessions could help a student make three to six months of academic progress, according to UK studies
• Retake the year - the practice of retaking a whole year is common in some countries, such as Germany and the US, but rare in the UK
• Extending school days - disadvantaged pupils can benefit from longer school days, US research suggests
• Increased well-being support - there have been calls for extra funding for mental-health support for schoolchildren, to help ease their return to the classroom and improve their chances of catching up

Read more here.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

More good vaccine news has been revealed in papers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a US regulator.

A vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson appears to be 85% effective against severe forms of Covid-19 and, even when pitched against the South African variant, it’s still 82% effective against serious illness.

The vaccine was less effective at preventing moderate forms of the disease, but experts say preventing death and hospital admissions is what matters.

There are two big advantages of this vaccine. Firstly, it can be administered in one shot and secondly, it can be stored at fridge temperature.

That will be especially useful for the global vaccine-sharing project, Covax, which has pre-ordered 500 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson jab.

It’s expected to be given emergency approval in the US later this week.

• FDA finds the single-shot jab safe

BBCCopyright: BBC

With the governments in England and Scotland announcing their roadmaps for leaving lockdown this week there you may have many questions.

Here are a few posed by some of our readers:

My daughter is 12 and is clinically extremely vulnerable. Is the advice that she should return to school on 8 March? Your daughter should not return on 8 March. The government’s advice for pupils who are CEV is to continue shielding and stay at home as much as possible until further notice.

We have children having to go to school, but my wife and I had letters to shield - how does that work? Your children still need to attend school (unless they - or you - are displaying Covid symptoms). Measures are in place to make schools Covid-safe environments but you should discuss any specific concerns you have with your children’s teachers.

Must people carry on working from home? Until when? In England, the “stay at home” rule is due to end on 29 March, but the government is still advising that people should continue to work from home where they can.

You can get more answers here or to submit your own email YourQuestions@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any question you send in.

EPACopyright: EPA

Cases of a coronavirus mutation first detected in the UK pose a greater risk of hospital admissions, Denmark’s health minister says, citing a study.

Magnus Heunicke says the study of cases in Denmark shows people infected with the UK variant have a 60% higher risk of being admitted to hospital.

Now dominant in much of the UK, the variant has spread to more than 100 countries, according to the World Health Organization.

Last week the variant, also known as B.1.1.7, became dominant in Denmark, accounting for 63% of all new infections.

“The Danish study aligns very well with the data already from the UK,” Heunicke says at a news conference. “There is a 60% greater risk of being hospitalised with the British corona variant.”

It is not clear what data the minister was referring to.

Last month, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was "some evidence" the variant has caused "a higher degree of mortality".

There is some research suggesting the UK variant may be associated with a 30% higher risk of death. But the evidence is not strong and the data is still uncertain.

• Covid variants: What are they and will vaccines work?

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A mother with Covid-19 should be allowed to die against her family's wishes, a judge has ruled.

The woman, who is in her early 30s, has been in an induced coma since giving birth to a baby boy last month.

The University of Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust say her chances of survival are slim and ending life-support treatment is "in her best interests".

Her family, who are Muslim, have been asking for more time for treatment and say they believe "only God could end life".

Here is our report from the Court of Protection, where issues relating to people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves are analysed.

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Nearly 200 asylum seekers housed at a former Army barracks have tested positive for Covid-19 this year, MPs have been told.

Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent, has housed up to 400 men, with a maximum of 28 sharing each dormitory.

Yvette Cooper says the number of cases is "pretty clear evidence" the site is "not Covid-safe".

Home Secretary Priti Patel says the Home Office has followed public health guidance "in every single way".

In January, 178 people tested positive, with another 19 in February, the Home Affairs Select Committee hears.

Health experts say the importance of Covax - a global vaccine-sharing scheme - in ending the pandemic cannot be overstated.

As we’ve been reporting, Covax made its first delivery today, taking a historic first step towards its goal of equitable distribution.

There is, however, still a long way to go.

Covax hopes that, by the end of 2021, more than two billion doses will have been delivered to countries across the world. Of those, about 1.8 billion will be delivered to the 92 poorer countries involved in the scheme, covering around 20% of their populations.

So, when will those vaccines be delivered exactly?

Covax released its first distribution forecast on 3 February, outlining how many doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines it expected to deliver.

The scheme said it would aim to deliver more than 330 million vaccine doses in the first half of 2021.

Those doses would cover, on average, 3.3% of total populations of 145 participating countries, Covax said.

The forecast illustrates the challenge of vaccinating the global population against coronavirus, at a time when access to jabs is limited and highly unequal.

BBCCopyright: BBC

AFPCopyright: AFP

There is a "powerful case" for police officers and other key workers to get priority for Covid-19 vaccines, Scotland's chief constable told the police service's watchdog.

Iain Livingstone told the Scottish Police Authority more than 400 police officers and staff have been given "surplus" vaccines - unused jabs which would otherwise have gone to waste.

He says he will continue to make the case to the Scottish government that Police Scotland officers and staff should be a priority group, once the initial rollout of the vaccine to those aged 50 and above and those with underlying medical conditions has been completed.

He says the job involves officers "taking themselves into situations of danger, taking themselves into places where people are breaching the coronavirus guidelines, and the anxiety and concern that comes from that".

"There is, in my view, a strong case to protect officers and staff through vaccination, and through vaccination of officers and staff, therefore, protect the public that they serve," he says.

Tanzania's finance minister appeared emotional and sometimes coughed as he gave a news conference to address the state of his health.

Philip Mpango spoke about his condition on Tuesday after being discharged from a hospital in the capital Dodoma, after rumours he had died with Covid-19.

Without revealing his illness, the maskless minister said he was admitted to the hospital two weeks ago “while on an oxygen machine”, adding “my health condition was bad”.

“I thank God for his mercies and grace that I have been breathing normally for the last three days,” Mpango said, flanked by two medical staff, neither of whom were wearing a mask.

Tanzanian opposition leader Tunui Lissu questioned the wisdom of the minister's news conference.

"Has the intelligence of our leaders reached this level? Who allowed this patient to cough on people, instead of being in hospital for treatment or bed rest?" he wrote on Twitter.

Tanzania’s government has been criticised for downplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus and failing to publish data on Covid-19 infections.

Last week, the World Health Organization called on Tanzania "to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations" in other countries.

A father has been unable to enjoy the smell of his newborn baby because of the after-effects of long Covid.

Justin Hyde from Cheltenham in England, completely lost his sense of smell after catching the virus in March last year and is still suffering the effects almost a year on.

His condition is known as parosmia, a distortion of the sense of smell.

His daughter was born just weeks after he recovered.

Watch as he explains his condition below.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The administration of US President Joe Biden will deliver more than 25 million masks across the country as part of its plan to curb the coronavirus.

“The masks will be available at more than 1,300 community health centres and at 60,000 food pantries nationwide,” Jeff Zients, the White House’s coronavirus response co-ordinator, says.

“Any American who needs a mask can walk into these health centres or food pantries and pick up high-quality, American-made masks.”

Zients says the cloth masks will be available at no cost, will come in children's and adult sizes, and can be washed for reuse.

In another announcement, Zients says the Biden administration was preparing to roll out about four million doses of a one-shot vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson next week.

Earlier today, US regulators said new data suggested the vaccine was 85% effective in preventing serious cases of Covid-19. The vaccine is awaiting regulatory approval in the US.

“If authorised, we are ready to roll out this vaccine without delay,” Zients says.

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An advertising campaign is being launched to encourage people across the UK to "keep going" and remain at home.

The government adverts come amid falling infection rates, the successful vaccine rollout and the launch of prime minister's roadmap out of lockdown.

People are also being urged to continue behavioural changes, including social distancing, hand washing and wearing face masks.

The TV advert is being shown for the first time on Wednesday night on ITV and will also run on radio, billboards and social media.

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The challenge for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is to keep sounding as though he has a new plan for what everyone can see is a massive problem with no obvious easy answers.

Children have missed a huge amount of school and exams have been cancelled for two years running.

The latest announcement on catch-up has an extra £400m for schools in England, but it’s focused on a familiar check list - summer schools, tuition, after-school activities, much of which happens anyway, and with schools deciding how it will be spent.

Williamson told today’s press conference the government was “not going to be timid”, but the reports about radical plans such as longer school days and shorter holidays seem to have fizzled away.

The unshowy and highly-experienced school recovery tsar, Sir Kevan Collins, will be more interested in long-term results than show-boating headlines.

The education secretary ran through the plans for going back to school - from 8 March with testing and masks - and that date offers families some certainty.

Although university students must think they are being kept in an expensive limbo, with no date yet set for when many of them can return.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

• The education secretary says the "full return" of England's schools and colleges from 8 March is justified by the latest data, which will be supported by a "robust" testing regime
• On exams, Gavin Williamson rules out any algorithms, saying the government will put its trust in teachers - but there will be no more detail ahead of Thursday's Commons statement
• Face masks in secondary school classrooms will be a "temporary" measure, to be reviewed over the Easter break
• Williamson rules out accelerating the roadmap out of lockdown, saying the prime minister has said there are no plans to be moving ahead of the plans already laid out
• On pupils catching up, Williamson says there is funding for schools to put on "great activities" over the summer, whether education-led or wellbeing-led, but longer school days are not part of the plan
• On staffing of summer schools, he says the government has given schools "additional resource" so they can bring in extra staff or pay existing staff to come in to give "high quality support" for children
• Williamson says he's "absolutely sure" young people, who haven't been vaccinated, will not be disadvantaged this summer by not being able to go to the cinema, out for a meal or on holiday
• On twice-weekly testing in secondary schools, the education secretary says he hopes parents will support schools doing it, adding that all the indications are that there has been an "enthusiastic embracing" of self-testing.