Covid remains a risk, warns Boris Johnson, but says UK better placed to deal with it
Johnson was setting out plan for tackling Covid over winter in a briefing with Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance
Rollout of booster jab for over 50s and younger vulnerable adults to start next week
PM adds he can't 'rule out completely' the possibility of mandating vaccine passports
Mandatory face masks and working from home may be necessary if the NHS is overwhelmed
UK reports 26,628 cases on Tuesday and 185 deaths within 28 days of a positive test
Meanwhile, children aged 12 to 15 across the UK will be offered one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid jab, the government says
Invitations for the vaccine will begin next week and parental consent will be sought for the programme, which is based in schools
It follows advice from the UK's chief medical officers, who say the jab will help to reduce disruption to education
Elsewhere, job vacancies have hit a record high as the economic recovery continues and the furlough scheme starts to wind down
Nick Eardley
Political correspondent
Although vaccine passports aren’t happening for now in England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is clear they should be kept on the table.
We’ve just heard quite a robust defence of the principle.
The PM thinks they could have kept venues open last year if they had been part of the government’s options then – and they could still be used later this year.
Gary Gibbon from Channel 4 asks whether a new virus variant could be a "game changer" on moving to Plan B, and whether asking people to wear a mask - rather than requiring it - is "enough".
He also asks Boris Johnson whether the government ever planned to actually go ahead with vaccine passports, or just threatened them to get vaccination numbers up.
Prof Chris Whitty says it would be a "worry" if a variant escaped vaccination, and this would "put us in a new situation". But he says the government will have to "take it as it comes" as Covid is unpredictable.
On vaccine passports, the prime minister replies that he thinks not introducing them at the moment is the "right balance" based on the current data.
But he says they will be an "important part of our repertoire" going into the winter.
ITV's Robert Peston asks what's the argument for not taking mild suppressive measures now, given that death rates and hospital admissions are up.
The vaccines have made a huge difference in reducing mortality and we are continuing to advise everyone to be sensible, says Boris Johnson.
Plan A is to continue to ask people to think about using face coverings, wash hands and get a test, the prime minister says.
He adds there are five million more people who should be getting the vaccine - we should be encouraging them to come forward and get jabbed, Johnson says.
"Vaccination should be the key thing we advocate," he concludes.
Nick Eardley
Political correspondent
The government’s autumn and winter plan provides no specific criteria for when England might move to Plan B.
This will matter to many people across the country, who want to know when their business might have to introduce vaccine passports – or when they might need to start working from home again.
The prime minister has said his main aim will be to stop the NHS from being overwhelmed.
And the scientists have said the number of people in hospital will be key.
The BBC's Vicki Young asks the panel what would have to happen for the government to move to its "plan B" over the winter.
Boris Johnson says protecting the NHS from being overwhelmed "remains the objective" and there are "all sorts of data" being looked at.
He also says it is likely the government wouldn't necessarily deploy all the contingency measures at once - suggesting they would be brought in in a gradual way.
Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, says the things they will be looking at will be hospitalisations and the link with cases.
Prof Whitty adds they will also be looking at the rate of change in hospitalisations in particular - as well as the "overall state of the NHS".
Image source, No 10 Downing StreetTaking the first question from a member of the public, the prime minister says every death has been a tragedy.
But the vaccination programme alone had saved "perhaps 100,000 lives, maybe 120,000", he says.
He repeats Prof Whitty's appeal for people to get vaccinated.
Boris Johnson goes on to talk about Plan B which we've been reporting on through the day.
He says the government will keep further measures in reserve, explaining it's not sensible to rule out Covid certification when it might mean the difference between businesses staying open or not.
He goes on to say he is confident in the vaccines that have made such a difference to our lives, referring to the booster doses and jabs for 12 to 15-year-old children.
"Covid is still out there. The disease still remains a risk," he says, but he's "confident we can protect the gains we've made together".
Prof Chris Whitty also cautions that the UK is entering the autumn with a "much higher" level of cases compared with last year, when cases were only beginning to rise.
He says the vaccination programme has changed the situation - but still shows the need for caution, as viruses are "hugely advantaged" during the cooler winter months.
Prof Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, runs through the latest Covid data.
He says Covid cases have "stabilised over the last few weeks" having risen previously - but cautions against "over-interpreting" this. He says deaths are "drifting up - but slowly".
He also points to another slide which shows the risk of being hospitalised by vaccine status.
He says the data shows an unvaccinated person in their 30s has the same risk as "someone in their seventies who is vaccinated".
The prime minister continues by saying we will continue to offer testing, to urge everyone to be sensible and responsible, use ventilation, wear a face covering in crowded places and stay home if you feel ill.
We're helping to vaccinate the world with 100 million doses for developing countries by next June, he adds.
He urges people in the UK to continue to be very proud that the Oxford/AstraZenenca vaccine remains the workhorse of global immunisation.
Boris Johnson says 80% of over-16s are now double vaccinated and Covid antibodies are in 90% of adults.
He says depending on your age, you're nine times more likely to die if you're unvaccinated than if you've had both jabs.
He adds that because of the UK's vaccination programme, it is one of the most free societies with one of the most open economies in Europe - and that, he explains, is why he is sticking with his strategy.
The Downing Street press conference is under way. Prime Minister Boris Johnson begins by asking viewers to cast their minds back to a year ago.
He says our position today is more challenging in one way, with more cases. But now all of us are incomparably better placed to fight the disease, he says.
It's time to go to Downing Street where Boris Johnson is about to begin outlining his Covid autumn and winter plan. You can watch it live at the top of this page or stay with us for a blow-by-blow account.
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
The message from the government in England is clear - we are going to try to rely almost entirely on the vaccines to protect us this winter.
But what is not spelled out is how bad it will have to get before we need to change course and move to Plan B.
The winter plan talks about “unsustainable pressure” on the NHS as the trigger, rather than too many deaths.
So what can the NHS cope with? The document does not spell that out.
Currently 7% of hospital beds are filled by Covid patients. That may not sound a lot, but hospitals are run close to capacity so Covid cases quickly impact on other care that can be provided.
The amount of non-emergency treatment being done is already nearly a fifth down on normal levels.
If Covid admissions keep growing or other respiratory illnesses take off it will mean more rationing - from knee and hip replacements being delayed to people waiting longer for an ambulance
None of this though is unusual - it happens every winter. But the scale of it could be very different.
Amid the debate about booster jabs in the UK, one health expert points out the fight against the virus will not be complete before the whole world has been vaccinated.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Dr Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the African Union Vaccine Delivery Alliance, said: "You cannot protect the UK in a vacuum and I think that is the political choice that has been made because as a public health physician myself and as a global health expert, I would have to argue as to whether this was a scientific decision or a political decision.
"The variants don't know borders. The way we got the Delta variant was because we allowed the virus to run rampant in parts of the world; the Delta variant was first identified in India during that horrendous outbreak that they had.
"Who's to say that the new variants are not right this moment growing in countries where we refuse to share vaccines and where they will then eventually come back and evade even these third- and fourth-dose boosters."
Stay with us here on the coronavirus live text as we're going to bring you updates from a Downing Street press conference which is due to start at 15:30 BST.
It's where the prime minister will present the government's Covid autumn and winter plan.
Boris Johnson will then take questions alongside Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance and England's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty.
A quick rewind to the Commons a little earlier when the health secretary was saying there would be an update on rules for international travel ahead of a formal review point on 1 October - and he suggested PCR tests for fully vaccinated travellers would be scrapped in favour of cheaper lateral flow tests.
Asked by Conservative MP Huw Merriman whether he would consider moving to lateral flow tests instead, Javid said: "I don't want to pre-empt the statement by the transport secretary but I believe that when he makes that statement, he [Merriman] will be pleased."
Nick Eardley
Political correspondent
Plan A is pretty clear - the government thinks vaccines are working and are the best form of defence over the next few weeks and months.
But much attention will be paid to what happens if that’s not enough.
We’re getting more details of Plan B today.
The government has identified three things it will keep as options: mandatory face coverings, vaccine passports and telling more people to work from home.
We’ve got details of what vaccine passports would look like - they’d be required in all nightclubs; indoor crowded settings with 500 people or more; or outdoor crowded settings with 4,000 people or more.
The plans sound similar to those which are being introduced in Scotland at the start of next month.
The big question is what will be the trigger for Plan B?
And even though ministers are determined to do everything they can to avoid another lockdown, the winter plan contains this line: “The government remains committed to taking whatever action is necessary to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed but more harmful economic and social restrictions would only be considered as a last resort."
Following Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's briefing, we now have it confirmed that all four governments across the UK will proceed with booster jabs and jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds.
More on education from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
She says secondary school pupils will need to keep wearing face coverings in class until the October holidays.
She said this was because of the high levels of infection still being experienced. The measure will be reviewed at the end of term.