There have been a further 648 daily deaths within 28 days of a positive test, taking the total to 59,699, the UK government has announced.

There have also been another 16,170 cases reported in 24 hours.

Image source, Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) has told the BBC that the UK's plans for mass vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNtech jab mark an "important moment" in efforts to tackle coronavirus.

"Obviously we need to do much more and we need to look at all the different vaccines and how we're going to get them out there, but I think it's an important day," said the WHO's Dr Margaret Harris, speaking with Newshour, on the BBC World Service.

With many vaccines still in development, Dr Harris said the WHO would provide a regulatory system for countries who needed it to test any potential jabs before deciding to use them.

And in a statement to Reuters, the WHO said it was in discussions with the UK's MHRA regulator "on the possibility of accessing some of the information from their assessment, which could expedite WHO’s emergency listing".

Alice Evans
BBC News

Image source, GRAHAM EDWARDS

As England's national coronavirus lockdown comes to an end, non-essential businesses are able to reopen in a final rush to make money before Christmas. But confusion over the rules means some businesses are keeping their doors closed for another 24 hours.

Becky Dewar, who owns the Hare and Hounds in Levens, Cumbria, started furiously working towards a 3 December reopening date as soon as the four-week lockdown was announced, because "it takes two weeks to shut a pub and two weeks to open a pub".

After almost three weeks of cleaning up, filling out furlough paperwork for her 30 staff, managing the pub's finances and saving what stock she could, Becky realised that government guidance said she would in fact be able to reopen when England's new tiered system of coronavirus restrictions came into effect today, Wednesday 2 December - a day earlier than she had been expecting.

It was too late for Becky to change her plans, and she is matter-of-fact about losing out on a day's trading - calling it a "drop in the ocean" of a year full of problems.

But she's not the only one to be reopening a day later than she needs to - and it may be because of inconsistent information from the government, rather than because people have misread the rules.

Read the full story here.

Marianna Spring
Disinformation and social media reporter

Rumours about the coronavirus vaccine are resurfacing online - an expected development given today’s news.

Of course there are legitimate concerns and questions. But these are worlds away from, for instance, suggestions that the vaccine is a secret plot to implant trackable microchips in our arms.

Bad info is often spread by influencers with big followings, and finds its way into local Facebook groups and Whatsapp chats.

It might come from people who sound like they know what they’re talking about. So how can you spot it? Here are some quick tips:

1. Ask how a post makes you feel. Conspiracy theories play on emotions - particularly anxiety
2. Interrogate the source. Has the information come from someone who really understands vaccine science and can be trusted on this topic?
3. Question motivations. Why was the post shared in the first place? Some are looking to spread false claims to push an agenda - or simply for clicks

Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine

Trials of the Oxford vaccine show it stops 70% of people developing Covid symptoms and has a strong immune response in older people.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses. Over the weekend, the government asked the regulator to assess the vaccine. Read more here.

Moderna vaccine

It protects 94.5% of people, the US company says. The UK will have five million doses by the spring. Moderna filed for US and European emergency regulatory approval on Tuesday.

Several others are being developed in China and Russia.

You can read much more on this, here.

Earlier, the prime minister's official spokesperson and press secretary answered reporters' questions, including about the Pfizer vaccine.

Here's a quick summary of what we learnt:

• The priority list for who will receive a Covid vaccine reflects the determination to ensure the most clinically vulnerable will get it first - but there will be some "flexibility" and deployment will be a consideration
• Asked about whether the health secretary was right to suggest Brexit had meant the UK medicines regulator could act quicker, the PM's spokesperson said it was clear the UK was the first country to authorise the vaccine
• Asked whether Boris Johnson could receive the vaccine live on TV to encourage take-up, the PM's press secretary said Johnson wouldn't rule it out but wouldn't want to take a jab meant for someone more in need

A little earlier in the Commons, Labour MP Toby Perkins asked about testing and schools, stating: "Surely a world class testing system would be testing everyone in the bubble who's been sent home so that their immediate family could either identify they have got the virus and take appropriate action or not."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock says: "Yes, we're piloting exactly that idea in, I think, eight schools right now and I hope to be able to roll it out once we've learnt from those pilots."

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

There is a clear priority list for who gets the vaccine first – and care home residents and staff are top of it.

But operational complexities mean the reality will be somewhat different.

When the vaccines arrives, it will be sent straight to major hospitals who have the ultra-cold facilities to store it.

From there it can be moved just once – and when it is, it must be kept in batches of 1,000.

That means sending it out to care homes where there may be only a few dozen residents in some places would lead to a huge amount of vaccine being wasted.

Because of that, the NHS, which is in charge of distributing the vaccine, will run clinics from hospitals at first.

This will allow health and care home staff to get immunised first as well as, perhaps, some of the older age groups who come into hospital.

It looks like it will not be until much more of the Pfizer vaccine is available or the Oxford University one, which is easier to distribute, is approved that care home residents will be able to get it.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Plymouth Argyle said it has entered "preliminary discussions" with Public Health England about parts of its Home Park stadium being used for the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

Bosses said the ground has been "identified as one of very few suitable locations" for the rollout of a vaccination programme in the city.

They said in a statement: "In line with our vision and values, we feel it is appropriate to try and assist the community wherever possible - as we have done with the NHS, who have occupied parts of the Mayflower Grandstand for phlebotomy and maternity services since the pandemic began."

The club said it would provide more information if plans developed.

Shoppers have been returning to High Streets in England today, as non-essential retailers reopened for the first time after a four-week national lockdown.

Jordan Roberts, 19, was among a dozen people queuing outside Selfridges in London's Oxford Street before the department store opened its doors - and shoppers were welcomed by store workers dressed as elves on roller skates.

She said she was there to do her Christmas shopping, adding: "It feels more enjoyable being in a store and things run out of stock online."

Another London shopper, Tamara Rass, 44, said she hit the stores early as she expected they would be busy.

"For me, it's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel and getting back to normality," she said.

Image source, Getty Images

Interpol has warned that organised criminal networks may try to sell fake vaccines or steal real supplies.

The international police organisation said it had issued alerts, external to law enforcement across its 194 member countries, warning them to make preparations.

It added that criminal groups are planning to infiltrate and disrupt supply chains, and target members of the public through fake websites and false cures which could pose a "significant" health risk.

“It is essential that law enforcement is as prepared as possible for what will be an onslaught of all types of criminal activity linked to the Covid-19 vaccine,” said Interpol's secretary general Jürgen Stock.

Image source, Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian authorities to begin mass vaccinations against coronavirus from next week.

“Let’s agree on this - you will not report to me next week, but you will start mass vaccination ... let’s get to work already,” he told Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, according to a statement.

Mr Putin said Russia will have produced two million doses within the next few days.

Last month Russia said that its domestically-made Sputnik V jab was 92% effective, according to interim results.

While some scientists welcomed the news, others said the data had been rushed out too early.

Today Russia has also delivered its first batch of vaccines to military personnel as part of efforts to immunise the country's armed forces. Last week, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said around 400,000 service members would be vaccinated.

More than 2.3 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Russia, but infection rates have slowed in recent days.

On Tuesday Anna Popova, the head of Russia's public health watchdog, said infection levels had stabilised in 58 of Russia's 85 regions.

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

Pfizer has confirmed that the first stocks of the vaccine will be for the NHS, which will give them out for free, based on clinical need.

People in the UK will not be able bypass this and buy the vaccine privately to jump the queue.

Labour MP Fleur Anderson asks whether, after clinical need, educational need will be a consideration for rolling out the vaccine, to help prevent teachers needing to self-isolate and keep schools open.

Hancock replies: "Once we’ve got through the clinical priority then of course there’s a debate to be had about the next order of priority after that."

However, in the meantime he says he hopes repeat testing of people who have been in contact with Covid cases will help.

“If we can get that up and running and working across the board then I hope that will be effective in ensuring fewer teachers will have to isolate because they’re contacts as opposed to positive cases," he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has said that the UK's swift vaccine approval should not be celebrated as a benefit of Brexit, since the jab was made thanks to the European Union, which Britain has left.

"The fact that this EU product is so good that Britain approved it so quickly shows that in this crisis European and international cooperation are best," he told reporters, according to Reuters news agency.

The minister's comments come shortly after the EU's medicines regulator defended its own, longer approval process, which it said was based on more evidence and required additional checks.

Britain's plan to roll out the new vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech has been announced after the jab was granted an emergency approval by UK regulators, 10 days after analysis began on data from trials.

Dr June Raine, the head of the UK's medicines regulator, has insisted that "no corners have been cut" in the development of the vaccine.

"The safety of the public will always come first,” she added.

The end of England's four-week national lockdown has seen non-essential shops open their doors again.

Personal care services such as hairdressers and beauty salons can also reopen for the first time in four weeks, while many amateur sport activities can also resume.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, EPA

Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the Commons health committee, asks about efforts to ensure people with learning disabilities can be vaccinated quickly.

He says this group are two to four times more likely to die from Covid-19 but "often feel they are forgotten".

Residents in care homes for older adults are top of the priority list for a Covid vaccine, while younger people with underlying health conditions are further down.

In response Matt Hancock says this is an "important consideration" which he has discussed with the JCVI, which advises the government on who should be prioritised for a vaccine.

He says the JCVI has taken into account the higher mortality of any given condition when drawing up its prioritisation list.

But the health secretary adds that "age is the single biggest determinant of mortality" and therefore this is the "predominant factor in prioritisation".

Matt Hancock tells the House of Commons that the vaccine effort has been “about people coming together right around the world”.

He says that the UK has put more into the global search for a vaccine “in cash terms” than any other country.

“Despite our medium size as a nation, we have been the most generous, and I’m really proud of that,” he adds.

The health secretary says there are 50 hospital hubs "ready to go" for the vaccine to be delivered.

Asked when restrictions on people's lives might be lifted, he says it would happen "as swiftly as we safely can".

He pointed out the fact that the impact of the vaccine on the transmission of the virus is not known makes it hard to say how many people need to be vaccinated before the measures can be relaxed.

The government will continue, however, to look at cases, hospitalisations and deaths to judge when restrictions can be lifted, he said.

Reality Check

Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier said that Brexit allowed the UK to approve a Covid vaccine more quickly than European countries.

“We do all the same safety checks and the same processes, but we have been able to speed up how they’re done because of Brexit," said Matt Hancock.

Meanwhile the Leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, tweeted to point out: “We could only approve this vaccine so quickly because we have left the EU”.

But the European Medicines Agency (EMA) says any EU country could have done the same thing.

Under EU rules, a vaccine must be authorised by the EMA but individual countries can use an emergency procedure that allows them to distribute a vaccine for temporary use in their domestic market.

Britain is still subject to those EU rules during the post-Brexit transition period which runs until the end of the year.

The UK’s own medicines regulator, the MHRA, confirmed this in a statement, external last month.

The MHRA is well-regarded as world leader in the regulation of medicine, and it has certainly chosen to move faster with vaccine approval than the EMA.

But it didn’t have to rely on Brexit to do that.

For example the European Commission confirmed on Monday, external that Hungary - an EU member - could use a Russian Covid vaccine in its domestic market if it chose to do so.

The EMA says it is using a slightly slower method for licencing than the UK which it considers to be “the most appropriate regulatory mechanism for use in the current pandemic emergency, to grant all EU citizens’ access to a vaccine and to underpin mass vaccination campaigns.”