Image source, EPA

More now on the latest from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine and reports of blood clots.

WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told Reuters News Agency:

"As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any unlikely changes to current recommendations will be immediately communicated to the public.

"As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus."

Tanzanian Vice-President Samia Suluhu has called for calm amid concerns about President John Magufuli's whereabouts.The president has not been seen in public for more than two weeks and there has been speculation he was outside the country - in Kenya - being treated for coronavirus.

Addressing residents of Handeni District in the north-eastern Tanga region, Suluhu said the president had asked her to pass his greetings to the locals and "urged us to continue living in harmony".

"I would like to assure you Tanzanians that everything is OK. It's normal for human beings to be indisposed due to a flu or fever or whatever," she said in a live address covered by the state-run TBC TV.

"If there is any time for Tanzania to remain united, it is this crucial period," the vice-president said, adding: "This is not the time to listen to rumours from outside (the country) which could confuse our minds."

Magufuli has faced criticism for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, with his government refusing to buy vaccines. The East African nation has not published its coronavirus cases since May.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

All university students will be able to access libraries, studios and laboratories after the Easter break, the Welsh Government has announced.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams said students would be able to resume blended learning - a mix of campus and home-learning - from 12 April.

She said the overall Covid message remained to "stay local", but the rules did allow travel for education.

Covid tests will be available twice a week for those attending campuses.

Williams told students: "I know your university experience this year has been very different from your expectations and you've missed out on many of the social aspects of university life."

But, she added, by doing so they had reduced the risk of catching and spreading the virus which would "certainly have saved lives".

The World Health Organization has again underlined there is no indication of any links between blood clotting and the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

It told Reuters news agency it was important that vaccination campaigns continued.

"It is normal for countries to signal potential adverse events. This does not mean that the events are linked to vaccination but it's good practice to investigate them," the statement says.

Indonesia has now joined seven other countries - mainly European - halting AstraZeneca vaccinations.

"To be conservative, the food and drug agency delayed implementation of AstraZeneca as it awaits confirmation from the WHO," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told MPs on Monday.

It came as Thailand resumed vaccinations after a brief halt because of concerns about possible blood clots amongst those inoculated. But the vaccine remains on hold in the Netherlands, the Irish Republic, Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria, Iceland and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Several European countries, including Italy and Austria, have suspended the use of certain batches of the drug as a precautionary measure.

The World Health Organization has again stressed there is no evidence so far that the cases of blood clotting are linked to the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine - in use in 65 countries.

Experts say cases of clotting in vaccinated people are lower than the number seen in the general population. About 17 million people in the EU and the UK have received a dose of the vaccine, with fewer than 40 cases of blood clots reported as of last week, AstraZeneca said.

Image source, Getty Images

You may have read earlier about the call to President Donald Trump to use his influential voice with Republican supporters to urge them to take up the government offer of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Well, there's another group out there which appears to be reluctant to be inoculated: prison staff.

According to the Associated Press News Agency and the Marshall Project - a non-profit news organisation which reports on the US criminal justice system - the figure of refuseniks hovers around 50%. They asked correctional officers, doctors working inside prisons and public health officials for their reasons - and the answers they got ranged from fear of side effects to conspiracy theories.

Some even went as far as saying they would rather be fired than vaccinated.

Prisons in the US, and elsewhere, have been shown to be coronavirus hotspots. In some US state one in three staff members have been infected in addition to the inmates.

You can read more of the findings here., external

Image source, EPA

The leader of the German state of Bavaria, Markus Soeder, has called on the health authorities to make a clear statement about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Several European countries have suspended the use of the vaccine over concerns about possible side effects, including blood clots.

So far, no clear evidence of the vaccine’s link to blood clots has been presented.

Soeder said people needed clarity, suggesting uncertainty may lead to “a problem with its acceptance”.

“Is the vaccine good or bad? We now need statements that this vaccine is effective and can work,” Soeder, premier of Bavaria, told a news conference on Monday.

Earlier, Germany’s health ministry said it would continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite reports of side-effects.

It said it was following the guidelines of the European Medicines Agency, which says the vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks.

Image source, Reuters

We’ve been reporting on the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccinations over blood-clot concerns in several countries.

Most of these countries are in Europe, where complaints about delays to vaccination programmes have put pressure on governments as coronavirus continues to spread.

The biggest problem has been supply, with AstraZeneca falling short of its production estimates.

However, of the AstraZeneca vaccines already delivered, many cannot yet be used in countries that have temporarily halted use of the jabs.

Hence, further delays can be expected.

The Netherlands, for example, said it would stop giving out the vaccine for two weeks until 29 March at least.

The country’s health authorities had scheduled around 290,000 AstraZeneca injections in the coming two weeks.

Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland said it expected to receive more than one million doses of all vaccines per month in April, May and June.

Of those vaccines, 21% were expected to be AstraZeneca jabs, the government projected, external.

It's not clear how the country's suspension of the vaccine will affect the rollout of these jabs.

High demand amid the pandemic for items such as hand sanitiser and loungewear mean they are now being used to calculate the cost of living in the UK.

Hand weights used by gym-goers who are stuck at home have also been added to the basket of goods used to measure the movement of prices.

The annual review by the Office for National Statistics also added smartwatches and electric cars.

But white chocolate and sandwiches bought at work are out.

Read on

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA Media

Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey has said pre-Covid levels of office working are unlikely to return, with most workers choosing a flexible approach to where they work after lockdown.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think we will see things change, because I think some habits and some practices will prove to be sustainable.

"I think there will be for many people more of a hybrid model of working at home and working in a place of work.

"I think we've already seen the retailing industry change quite dramatically in the last year and although I would expect some of it to change back it, it won't entirely change back."

He said he would be "very surprised if we went back to exactly as we were before Covid".

Image source, Jamila Azad

An Oxford Labour councillor who described receiving a Covid vaccination from a "private care doctor" in an online post has resigned from the party.

Jamila Azad's remark led to claims she may have illegally had a jab privately.

The councillor told the BBC she had used the "wrong wording" and the injection had been on the NHS.

But Ms Azad, whose address is listed in Oxford, admitted going to Birmingham for the jab after "my daughter told me" they had stock of the Pfizer vaccine.

She said her GP had not advised a certain brand. Instead it was "my choice" as she claimed Pfizer was "more effective".

Under NHS rules, people cannot choose which vaccine they have, external unless there are special circumstances.

Read more here.

BBC Radio 5 Live

More pupils in Wales have been returning to school for the first time since December.

Sixth-formers at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, near Pontypridd, have been telling BBC Radio 5 Live how it feels to be back in the classroom.

Abi, aged 18, is studying for her A-levels.

She says: “It’s not been great sitting at the computer all day every day. It’s nice to get out, have a bit of a routine again. It’s not been easy doing it at home.

"It will be nice to get back in the classroom and be able to ask questions constantly to the teacher and get that interaction back."

Sixth-former Tom says his younger brother has been nervous about returning.

"I think a lot of younger students will be but, ultimately, when they come here and realise how safe it is and the measures that are in place, I think he and others will cope just fine."

Listen to 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

Image source, Getty

Several countries have paused use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after reports that a small number of people who were recently given the shot also developed blood clots.

There have been 15 cases of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) (a blood clot in a vein) and 22 cases of pulmonary embolism (a blood clot that has entered the lungs) reported among the millions of people vaccinated in the EU and the UK.

Regulators say there is no evidence that the vaccine is linked to or responsible for these events.

The Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria and Iceland have paused use of the Oxford vaccine as a precaution, until further research has taken place.

Read on

Image source, EPA

Germany should reimpose coronavirus restrictions to avoid a “strong third wave” of infections at a precarious time in the pandemic, doctors have urged.

Christian Karagiannidis, director of Germany's intensive-care register, said he and his colleagues “would argue strongly to return immediately to a lockdown”.

He said the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus first detected in the UK was contributing to a rise in cases.

Coronavirus infections have spiked since Germany gradually eased health measures in late February.

The country has recorded more than 10,000 new cases a day since Thursday last week, data showed.

“You can see very clearly that we will find ourselves in increasing intensive numbers again very quickly, provided we give the virus the opportunity to do so now,” Karagiannidis told broadcaster RBB on Monday.

The German government has been criticised for its coronavirus vaccine rollout, which has suffered delays and slow progress.

The world-famous cellist put on an impromptu concert in a waiting room after he received his second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Yo-Yo Ma played Ave Maria at the Berkshire Community College in Massachusetts, where vaccine recipients wait and are monitored after getting their jab.

Image source, Reuters

You may have seen reports that some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines over concerns about side effects. Last week Thailand became the first country outside of Europe to delay use of the vaccine but now the Thai government has said it will start administering it again on Tuesday.

Seven other countries also suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines. They are the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Netherlands was the latest to halt the vaccine’s use, calling it a precautionary measure.

Several other European countries - including Italy, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg - have suspended using certain batches of the vaccine, also as a precaution.

In response to these suspensions, regulators and AstraZeneca have sought to reassure the public of the vaccine’s safety.

AstraZeneca said on Sunday, external a review of safety data had shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

That assessment has been echoed by UK regulators and the World Health Organization (WHO), which said there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and blood clots.

Image source, Reuters

Turning to the US now, the country’s top infectious diseases expert has suggested former President Donald Trump could do more to promote coronavirus vaccinations.

Dr Anthony Fauci said it would be "a game-changer" if the former Republican president encouraged his supporters to get a Covid-19 vaccine.

"It will make all the difference in the world," Dr Fauci told Fox News Sunday, external. "He's a very widely popular person among Republicans."

A recent US opinion poll suggested as many as 49% of Republican male supporters did not want to get vaccinated.

In office, Trump did not take a leading role in the promotion of vaccinations against the disease.

But last month, he said "everybody, go get your shot" at a conservative forum. It was the first time he had publicly encouraged Americans to do so.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

With millions of people vaccinated in the UK alone we’d expect to see thousands of clots in the month after a jab, just by chance.

That’s because in any given month we’d expect to see (very roughly) one clot for every 1,000 people aged over 80 and closer to half as many for people aged between 60 and 80, according to recently published data., external

We’ve seen fewer than 40 cases reported to regulators across Europe, far lower than those rates would suggest.

Of course, not all cases get reported, and we don’t know about the medical histories of the people involved – the medical regulators will go through the details with a fine tooth comb.

But there is no signal shouting out of the data at the moment that vaccination is leading to a substantial increase in the number of people having blood clots.

Image source, EPA

The Danish Medicines Agency has released more information about the death of a woman who received an AstraZeneca vaccine.

The regulator said the Danish woman had “an unusual clinical picture”, with blood clots and bleeding.

The woman’s “highly unusual” death “caused the professional experts in the Danish Medicines Agency to react”, it said.

In a statement on Sunday, external, the regulator said the case was being “thoroughly investigated” by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The EMA - the medical regulator of the European Union - says the vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks.

Regulators in the UK, the World Health Organization (WHO) and AstraZeneca have also sought to reassure the public of the vaccine’s safety. They say there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and blood clots.

But several countries have suspended use of the vaccine as a precaution.

Image source, Getty Images

Two of the biggest names in hospitality have threatened to take the government to court over how it plans to release England from lockdown.

Pizza Express investor Hugh Osmond and Greater Manchester night time economy adviser Sacha Lord say the industry is losing £200m a day.

They say there is no justification for opening non-essential shops five weeks before pubs and restaurants can reopen their doors inside, describing the move as “plainly irrational”.

Under current plans, non-essential retail can open from 12 April if new coronavirus infections are kept under control. Outdoor hospitality can also reopen then, but customers cannot sit inside until at least 17 May.