National News

Including the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, the UK Government has secured doses of seven vaccine candidates.

Nationwide Building Society said the average UK house price jumped 7.3% this year after rising 0.8% in December alone.

Experts believe the coronavirus vaccination programme in care homes will be speeded up by approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.

British regulators have adopted the phrase ‘safety is our watchword’.

The vaccine – called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 – uses a harmless, weakened version of a common virus which causes a cold in chimpanzees.

The scientists who helped deliver the latest vaccine.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has granted authorisation for the rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.

The former Labour leader has urged ‘the biggest climate mobilisation we’ve ever seen’ for the forthcoming Cop26 event.

The vaccine has been shown to prevent severe disease and stop people contracting Covid-19.

The Met Office issued fresh warnings for snow for Wednesday, with the potential to cause rail and road closures, power cuts, and injuries.

Virus patient numbers have reached their highest levels during the pandemic, with 51,135 further cases and 414 deaths reported on Tuesday.

Wildlife Trusts warn the marine environment is under threat from plastic pollution.

Matt Hancock is due to address the Commons on Wednesday afternoon

Many of Wednesday’s front pages are led by the tightening of coronavirus restrictions and the UK’s trade deal with the EU.

The UK Government has said the agreement works for Scotland.

Boris Johnson chaired a meeting of the Government’s Covid-19 Operations committee on Tuesday to discuss changes to the tier system.

A committee of MPs have said that significant challenges are coming on January 1.

Mr Johnson has insisted that UK will be ‘the best friend and ally the EU could have’, whilst fulfilling the ‘sovereign wish’ of the British people.

The anonymous doctor said his hospital will need to ration oxygen if the situation worsens.

The Essex Resilience Forum said the “significant growing demand” on hospitals in the county threatened to overwhelm health services.