Jabs will be offered to those aged 35 and over in England next week
More than 20 million people in the UK have had two doses of a vaccine
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says Monday's lockdown easing "remains on track" because of "very high uptake rates of the vaccine"
He says the Indian variant is more transmissible and likely to become "dominant" in the UK but he is "confident" the jab works against it
Five people who have had a single jab have been hospitalised with the Indian variant in Bolton, and one who had received both
If the variant is 40-50% more transmissible than the Kent variant, the UK will have a "real problem", he adds
People are being urged to be very cautious about mixing as restrictions are lifted in England, Scotland and Wales on Monday
Indoor hospitality and entertainment venues will reopen and more people can meet outdoors, with limited indoor mixing also allowed
No 10 has defended its decision not to ban travel from India sooner, saying the UK has "some of the toughest border measures" in the world
But Labour's Yvette Cooper says the government should have put India on the travel "red list" much earlier
Thank you for following our updates today. They were brought to you by George Bowden, Jennifer Meierhans, Jo Couzens, Paul Gribben and Vanessa Barford.
Join us tomorrow as we bring news of lockdown measures easing in England, Scotland and Wales - as well as all the coronavirus developments from around the world.
Have a good evening.
We are going to be wrapping up our live updates on coronavirus soon and we've been pleased to bring you some good news on the vaccine front. Here's what else has been going on:
Image source, Getty ImagesLimits on where you can stay - and who with - are also being relaxed significantly.
Take a look at what is changing and where you can travel in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland.
Lockdown rules are easing in England, Wales and most of Scotland on Monday, with pubs and restaurants able to serve customers indoors, and social distancing guidelines relaxed.
Here is a breakdown of what restrictions are being lifted where.
Today we've been covering the government's response to the Indian variant which is becoming the dominant strain in some areas like Bolton and Blackburn.
Surge vaccines and teting have been announced in both these areas.
And last week, the PM announced that the wait between jabs will be cut from 12 weeks to eight for the over-50s and clinically vulnerable to increase protection.
The NHS is today reminding people, external that they will be contacted if the appointment for their first dose needs to be brought forward and there is no need to get in touch with them.
The vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has praised the teams of people behind the UK's coronavirus vaccine rollout as it hit the 20 million mark for people receiving two doses.
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There have been a further four coronavirus-related deaths in the UK, according to the government's daily statistics., external
That brings the total number of people to have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test to 127,679.
A further 1,926 new infections have also been recorded in the UK.
More than 20 million people have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine in the UK, according to the government's daily figures., external
A total of 20,103,658 people have the highest level of protection against the virus.
Another 36,573,354 have received their first dose, bringing the total number of vaccines given in the UK to 56,677,012.
Image source, PA MediaGlasgow may have to remain under tougher level three Covid restrictions for longer than a week, Scotland's national clinical director has warned.
Prof Jason Leitch said the situation remained "fragile" as case rates continue to climb. The city's outbreak has been linked to the Indian virus variant.
The latest seven-day average per 100,000 population in the city is 89.4 cases, well above the level two benchmark of 50 cases.
All of mainland Scotland except Glasgow and Moray moves to level two on Monday.
Level two means people will be allowed to meet up inside others' homes in groups of up to six people from up to three different households - and they can stay overnight.
Read more here.
Image source, NATIONAL MEMORIAL ARBORETUMA memorial woodland is due to be planted to remember people who died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, said the 25-acre site would be a "living memorial".
Located on a former quarry adjacent to the arboretum, the managing director said the woodland would "heal the landscape as we heal as a nation".
Read more here.
Image source, ReutersSchools and other learning institutions are being disinfected across Taiwan
Taiwan's government has imposed its toughest restrictions so far, as the island tries to battle a spike in coronavirus cases.
The authorities are shutting down cinemas and entertainment venues until 28 May, while limiting gatherings to five indoors and 10 outdoors.
President Tsai Ing-wen urged the public not to panic-buy basic necessities.
Taiwan - which has so far survived the pandemic almost unscathed - on Sunday reported 207 new infections.
The island of 23 million people has recorded 1,682 infections and 12 Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Taiwan's success battling Covid-19 has been largely attributed to early and strict border controls, a ban on foreign visitors and mandatory quarantine for all Taiwanese returning home.
Read more here.
Image source, EPASingapore has tightened its circuit breaker restrictions in response to a rise in Covid-19 cases in the community
Singapore will shut most of its schools on Wednesday after it reported the highest number of local Covid-19 infections in months, according to authorities.
All primary, secondary and junior colleges will shift to home-based learning until the end of the school term on 28 May.
"Some of these [virus] mutations are much more virulent, andthey seem to attack the younger children," Education Minister Chan Chun Sing told Reuters news agency.
Singapore today confirmed 38 locally transmitted coronavirus cases - the highest daily number since mid-September - of which 18 are currently not linked.
The island city-state has reported more than 61,000 Covid-19 cases, with most linked to outbreaks last year in foreign worker dormitories, and 31 deaths.
"The sharp rise in the number of community cases today requires us to significantly reduce our movements and interactions in the coming days," Chan added.
Until recently, Singapore had been reporting almost zero or single-digit daily infections locally for months.
Image source, Getty ImagesSurge vaccinations are already under way in Bolton
Blackburn has been given the go-ahead to start surge vaccinations, the director of public health for Blackburn with Darwen Council says.
Dominic Harrison tweeted, external he was "delighted to say that we now have a green light to rapidly increase vaccinations."
He says the authority will receive an additional supply of more than 1,000 Pfizer jabs for the next two weeks for both high variant spread areas and all residents over 18, subject to eligibility.
Earlier Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there were more than 1,300 cases of the Indian variant in total and it is becoming "the dominant strain" in areas including Blackburn and Bolton.
On Friday, Harrison said he was "furious" the government had so far refused to allow extra vaccinations to halt the spread of the Covid-19 Indian variant.
Image source, NPO/NOS/AVROTROS NATHAN REINDSA day after the first positive Covid test linked to this year's Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands was reported, a second positive case has been announced.
A member of the Icelandic delegation tested positive for Covid-19 during routine screening on Sunday, the competition organisers announced.
Alongside a member of the Polish delegation whose positive test was announced on Saturday, they will now isolate and both countries' delegations will quarantine and undergo testing.
Neither delegation will attend the planned "turquoise" carpet event scheduled for later.
Organsiers have gone to extreme lengths to protect this year's contest, the final of which airs on 22 May, after it was cancelled last year at the height of the first wave.
Image source, Getty ImagesNearly two thirds of people in Wales have antibodies to help protect against Covid-19, data shows
More than two million people in Wales have now received their first Covid vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
Public Health Wales (PHW) said a total of 2,019,160 people - 64% of the population - have had their first dose.
And 915,674 people have had their second jab - 29% of the population.
It comes as pubs, restaurants and cafes will be able to serve indoors, and cinemas and other businesses allowed to reopen, as Wales moves to Covid alert level two , externalas of Monday.
First Minister Mark Drakeford revealed on Friday that he had planned to go further in easing Covid rules but paused because of the Indian variant.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan called the figures a "fantastic achievement".
She added: "I'm incredibly proud and grateful to the thousands of people - NHS staff, military personnel and volunteers - who have worked so hard across the country to reach this milestone."
Image source, ReutersThe NHS is sending a mobile vaccine bus into parts of Bolton with high infection rates
A local lockdown in Bolton to help protect people from the spread of the Indian Covid-19 variant has not been ruled out, Matt Hancock has said.
The health secretary said the "vast majority" of people in the town who are in hospital with the new variant had not taken up the offer of a vaccine.
He said the government was prepared to implement restrictions if necessary.
Mr Hancock said the plan was to "pile in testing and vaccinations to try to get on top of this".
Speaking to Sky's Sophy Ridge, he said five people who had received a single jab were in hospital with the Indian variant in Bolton.
One patient had received both doses - but they are "very frail".
Asked if anyone has died with the Indian variant after receiving two jabs, Mr Hancock said: "Not that we're aware of."
Andy Holmes and Nic Rigby
BBC News
Norfolk County Council is having its AGM at the Norfolk Showground, home to the Royal Norfolk Show
Local councils in England are spending thousands of pounds to hire venues such as sports grounds and theatres for their annual meetings because of Covid-19 rules.
In April, the government decided against extending emergency coronavirus laws which allowed meetings to be held online.
A Hertfordshire County Council High Court challenge to this was rejected.
Among the venues which will be used by councils are the Norfolk Showground, Northampton's Franklin's Gardens rugby stadium and a Stevenage theatre.
Read more here.
Sir Mark Walport, the former chief scientific adviser, has been telling BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend it is important people "really do stick to the rules" as more venues reopen from Monday.
"We're all desperate to get back to some measure of normal life but, of course, sadly the virus doesn't really care about this," he says.
He described a race between the virus, the new Indian variant and the vaccine, and he championed the importance of "sensible, cautious behaviour", saying "the more we can do outside the better".
Walport said the strategy of keeping surveillence on new variants as they arrive and securing booster vaccine doses "will move us toward a flu-like relationship with coronavirus, which will be with us for years".
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has defended his role in helping a former Conservative minister try to secure a PPE deal at the start of the pandemic.
The Sunday Times reported that Hancock "personally intervened", external to help Brooks Newmark in getting a £178m contract for protective goggles.
Hancock told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show when an email arrived from Newmark, he "just pinged it on" to the relevant teams because he did not have anything to do with awarding contracts.
Marr read out a message from Mr Hancock's aide to Lord Deighton, the government's PPE tsar, in which the proposal was labelled "excellent" and noted that Mr Hancock hoped it could be looked at "urgently".
But Hancock denied that any special treatment was given, adding: "When somebody approaches the health secretary in the middle of a pandemic when you are desperately short of PPE, it's perfectly reasonable for the health secretary then to send on the email and say can we have a look at this."
You can read about the exchange in more detail here.