Summary

  • Denmark becomes the first country to completely stop using the AstraZeneca vaccine, over concerns about blood clot cases

  • But the head of Denmark's health authority says he is not ruling out using the vaccine again in the future if another wave hits

  • More than eight million people in the UK have now had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine

  • In England, an estimated 54.9% of the population had Covid antibodies in the week to 28 March, the Office for National Statistics says

  • That number was 49.1% in Wales, 54.5% in Northern Ireland and 46% in Scotland

  • The US, South Africa and European Union pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine rollout after reports of rare blood clotting

  • Johnson & Johnson says that "no clear causal relationship" has been established between its vaccine and the clots

  • Surge testing after an outbreak of the South Africa variant of coronavirus is extended to a third London borough - Southwark

  • A consultation is launched on whether care home staff in England should be required to have a vaccine

  • A leading statistician says data supports PM Boris Johnson's claim lockdown, not vaccines, was the major cause of the UK's fall in cases

Live Reporting

Edited by Hamish Mackay and James Clarke

  1. South Africa and EU suspend J&J vaccine rollouts

    Like the US, South Africa and the EU have paused their rollouts of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

    There have been no cases of blood clots reported in South Africa, which was the first country to administer the vaccine.

    Deliveries of the vaccine to the EU started just 24 hours before J&J said it would pause the European rollout.

    The World Health Organization has told Reuters it is monitoring the situation and waiting for reports from the US and European regulators.

    The J&J vaccine is yet to be approved in the UK, although 30 million doses have been pre-orderered.

  2. Latest across Europe: Vaccine setback and cut in French pollution deaths

    A person receives a dose of vaccine at the Wizink Center sports pavilion in Madrid, central Spain, 09 April 2021EPA

    Spain's autonomous regions have been told they will not receive Janssen doses today as planned

    The delay in rolling out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is proving a headache for European governments that are relying on it to meet national vaccination targets.

    Spain’s vaccine programme has started slowly and it was expecting 5.5 million doses of the Janssen dose (as it is known in Europe) by the end of June. Belgium received its first delivery of the single-dose vaccine on Monday – it says it’ll wait for a “clear signal” from the EU’s medicines agency before deciding which age group will receive it. German immunology expert Carsten Watzl wants the government in Berlin to focus on securing other vaccine deliveries to ensure under-60s are inoculated.

    Lockdown in France has led to “significant and immediate health benefits” from a fall in pollution levels, according to the SPF public health agency. There has been an estimated fall of 2,300 deaths from exposure to particulate matter and another 1,200 from nitrogen dioxide linked to traffic.

    France has suspended fights to and from Brazil because of concerns surrounding the P-1 Covid-19 variant prevalent in the country. Two flights will arrive in France this morning which took off before the midnight ban came into force.

    Germany has reported more than 21,000 new infections in the past 24 hours and a rising seven-day incidence rate of 153.2.

    A Dutch programme to hold test events with audiences is to continue later this week with 1,500 people attending a music award festival in Utrecht. Further big events will take place on 24 April with audiences of 8,000 and 10,000. Everyone needs a negative test before the event and then five days afterwards too.

    In Croatia, Zagreb’s tourist board is offering half-price coronavirus tests to tourists who spend at least one night in the city. It wants them to extend their stay without worrying about their return home.

  3. Johnson & Johnson vaccine paused in US ‘out of abundance of caution’

    Vials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccineReuters

    Six cases of rare blood clotting have been detected in more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says.

    It has recommended a temporary pause of the rollout in the US "out of an abundance of caution".

    One patient died from blood clotting complications and another is in a critical condition, the FDA says.

    All six cases were in women aged between 18 and 48, with symptoms appearing six to 13 days after vaccination.

    Read more here

  4. Good morning and welcome

    Welcome to our daily rolling coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll bring you the latest updates throughout the day.

    Here are the main headlines this morning: