• A review of Scotland's Covid-19 levels system will be announced shortly
• It's already known that 11 Scottish council areas which are currently subject to the highest tier of Covid-19 restrictions will exit level four on Friday - but it's not known which level they'll go down to
• Nicola Sturgeon will also announce whether any other council areas will move up or down a level
• Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother, was the first person in the UK to be given the new Covid vaccine
• In Scotland the the first vaccinations have taken place in Edinburgh

• An announcement is also expected later this afternoon about next year's Highers and Advanced Higher exams
• Education Secretary John Swinney is due to give an update to Parliament at around 3.50pm, where he will also detail plans for students to return safely after Christmas
• A major incident was declared by health officials in charge of tackling an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus at an Aberdeenshire care home
• However the decision about Inchmarlo Care Home on Monday evening was then stood down when "extra support" was found

Image source, PA Media

A review of Scotland's Covid-19 levels system will be announced later.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already confirmed that the 11 council areas subject to the highest tier of restrictions will all move to lower levels on Friday.

The toughest restrictions were imposed to bring down case numbers in Scotland's Covid hotspots - but they came at a cost, with hospitality and non-essential shops required to close, among other measures.

Have the restrictions succeeded in driving down rates of Covid-19 over the last three weeks?

• Find out the answer here
• Sturgeon confirms level 4 curbs will end on Friday
• Postcode check: Find out the rules where you live

The latest Scottish government figures reveal a further 692 people have tested positive for Covid-19. That is 5.5% of the total number of tests carried out.

This takes the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 101,475.

983 patients are in hospital with a confirmed case (up nine), with 57 being treated in intensive care (down two).

A further 33 people who tested positive have had their deaths registered, taking the total by that measure to 3,950.

Up to 29 November, 5,634 deaths had been registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, with that National Records of Scotland figure set to be updated tomorrow.

The Covid-19 business at Holyrood begins this afternoon with two topical questions:

1. Laboour MSP Neil Findlay will ask what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that safe care home visiting can take place.
2. Then it's the turn of Tory MSP Donald Cameron who will ask for an update on the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Clackmannanshire had one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 in Scotland two months ago, but a recent rise in cases appears to have made it the country's coronavirus hotspot.

NHS Forth Valley says there is evidence of the virus spreading within the community and local care homes and a mobile testing centre has been in Alloa since 26 November.

The area is in level three of the Scottish government's five-tier system, and while rates have fluctuated over the last few weeks, they are now higher than any other local authority in Scotland.

What's behind the rise in rates?

Image source, PA Media

As well as being an historic day with the coronavirus vaccine roll out in Scotland beginning, it's also a busy day at Holyrood.

The review of Scotland's Covid-19 levels system will be announced later, from around 2.20pm:

Here's the schedule for this afternoon's coronavirus pandemic business at the Scottish Parliament:

• 2.05-2.20pm Topical questions on care homes visits ands the vaccination programme
• 2.20-3.20pm Ministerial Statement: COVID-19 - Nicola Sturgeon is due to reveal the latest review of protection levels across Scotland

• 3.20-3.50pm Ministerial Statement: Brexit Readiness
• 3.50pm Ministerial Statement on education - John Swinney is expected to make an announcement on whether Scotland's highers should go ahead next year and on the return of students after Christmas

Image source, PA MEDIA

We should find out this afternoon what is happening with next year's Highers and Advanced Higher exams.

Education Secretary John Swinney is due to give an update to parliament around 3.50pm.

Schools in Glasgow and in other areas across the central belt have been hit much harder by Covid absences than those elsewhere in Scotland.

It is that disparity, between some pupils having multiple periods of isolation away from class and others having totally uninterrupted learning, that the education secretary has been considering when making a decision about the Higher and Advanced Higher exams.

Next year's National 5 exams have already been cancelled. Instead they are being decided on what the government is calling 'teacher judgement supported by assessment'.

At the time the government said a contingency plan was in place should Highers not go ahead.

Wales has already made the decision to cancel all exams next year, while England has said they will go ahead.

If Highers are scrapped, following on from this year's cancellation, it will mean many of Scotland's pupils will leave school without having ever sat a formal exam.

Image source, PA Media

The first people in Scotland have been vaccinated against Covid-19 today, after the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was approved for widespread use.

Refrigerated containers holding the vaccine doses, which need to be kept at -70C, have been arriving in the UK from Belgium, where it is made, and are being moved from secure locations to the hospitals where vaccinations will take place.

The first to get the jag in Scotland were health workers at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, who will be carrying out vaccinations.

Senior Nurse Andrew Minzarovski was one of the first to be vaccinated this morning.

“It is very exciting," he told BBC Scotland. "It is the first time a major vaccination has come through so quickly, so to be part of that is amazing.”

Click here to find out more about the Covid-19 vaccines and the programme to distribute it here in Scotland.

Prof Sian Griffiths, a global expert in public health, says Scotland faces a particular logistical challenge in delivering the vaccine to some people given the remoteness of areas such as the Highlands and Islands.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at -70C, which could mitigate against some regions receiving a vaccine until other types – such as the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine - come on-stream.

“When you’ve got sparse populations, getting the batches down to small enough numbers, or taking them out to remote places, is a logistical challenge, particularly for Scotland compared to the rest of the UK,” Prof Griffiths tells BBC Radio Scotland.

“The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t need such cold temperatures so will be easier to get into more remote areas and more GP surgeries.

“Everyone recognises the most vulnerable group are the elderly and those in care homes, but they are quite difficult to reach with this vaccine. So in the meantime it is those who come into contact with older people – health care workers and social care workers – who are at the front of the queue.

“A blending of those two groups can have the maximum effect with the vaccines we have available at the moment.”

The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is the first one in the UK to be approved for mass use, with people receiving injections from today.

England's deputy chief medical officer says the first wave of vaccinations could prevent up to 99% of Covid-19 hospital admissions and deaths.

But rolling it out isn't straightforward because of the unique way it needs to be stored.

BBC health correspondent Laura Foster explains some of the logistics around it.

Image source, PA Media

May Parsons administered the jab to Margaret Keenan at about 06:45 at University Hospital, Coventry.

She said: "It's a huge honour to be the first person in the country to deliver a Covid-19 jab to a patient, I'm just glad that I'm able to play a part in this historic day.

"The last few months have been tough for all of us working in the NHS, but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel."

Image source, Reuters

The second patient to receive the vaccine in Coventry earlier has grabbed the attention of social media - and that's no surprise, given he's called William Shakespeare.

People on social media came up with "The Taming of the Flu" - brilliant! - and "The Two Gentlemen of Corona".

And someone asked whether Margaret Keenan, the first person in the UK to be vaccinated, was patient 1A, which in turn prompted the question whether Mr Shakespeare was "Patient 2B or not 2B?"

As for the man himself, he said he was pleased to be given the jab, adding: "I need to say, the staff at this hospital are wonderful."

It's been a busy morning so far on what has been dubbed "V-Day", as the UK's Covid-19 vaccination programme begins.

Here is a round-up of the main stories from the rest of the UK so far:

• A 90-year-old woman has become the first person to be given a Covid jab. Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, said it was the "best early birthday present"
• Those deemed to be most vulnerable to the virus are being given the Pfizer/BioNTech jab first in what is the biggest vaccination programme in the NHS's history. The vaccines are being administered from about 70 hospital hubs across the UK to over-80s and some health and care staff

• In Wales, care home worker Craig Atkins was among the first to receive the vaccine. The 48-year-old said he was shaking but now feels that he can smile
• In Northern Ireland, nurse Joanna Sloan was the first to get the jab. Ms Sloan, who will head up the vaccine roll-out in Belfast, said she felt "privileged" to get the vaccine first

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who visited a London hospital to see some of the first people getting the jab, said getting vaccinated was "good for you and good for the whole country". Vaccinations would make a "huge difference", he said, but he warned it would take time to inoculate everyone
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the start of the rollout of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine meant there was "finally" a "way through" the coronavirus crisis

Britain's medicines regulator, the MHRA, approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine last week after finding that it met the required safety standards.

The MHRA says it hasn't identified any "serious adverse reactions".

The vaccine, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19, is given as two injections given 21 days apart. Immunity begins to kick in after the first dose but reaches its full effect seven days after the second dose.

"The safety of the public will always come first," the MHRA's head, Dr June Raine, said after the vaccine was approved.

She went on to explain that decision was made "following the most rigorous scientific assessment of every piece of data so that it meets the required strict standards of safety, of effectiveness and of quality".

Most of the side effects are very mild, similar to those sometimes experienced after any other vaccine, and usually last for a day or so, according to Prof Sir Munir Pirmohamed, the chairman of the Commission on Human Medicine expert working group.

Be aware that anti-vaccine stories are spread online through social media. These posts are not based on scientific advice (or blend facts with misinformation).

Read more about what we know is true about the vaccine here.

• Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother, was the first person in the UK to be given the new Covid vaccine
• In Scotland the the first vaccinations have taken place in Edinburgh
• A review of Scotland's Covid-19 levels system will be announced around 2.20pm
• It's already known that 11 Scottish council areas which are currently subject to the highest tier of Covid-19 restrictions will exit level four on Friday - but it's not known which level they'll go down to
• Nicola Sturgeon will also announce whether any other council areas will move up or down a level

• An announcement is also expected later this afternoon about next year's Highers and Advanced Higher exams
• Education Secretary John Swinney is due to give an update to Parliament at around 3.50pm, where he will also detail plans for students to return safely after Christmas
• A major incident was declared by health officials in charge of tackling an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus at an Aberdeenshire care home
• However the decision about Inchmarlo Care Home on Monday evening was then stood down when "extra support" was found

Image source, PA Media

A review of Scotland's Covid-19 levels system will be announced later.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already confirmed that the 11 council areas subject to the highest tier of restrictions will all move to lower levels on Friday.

The toughest restrictions were imposed to bring down case numbers in Scotland's Covid hotspots - but they came at a cost, with hospitality and non-essential shops required to close, among other measures.

Have the restrictions succeeded in driving down rates of Covid-19 over the last three weeks?

• Find out the answer here
• Sturgeon confirms level 4 curbs will end on Friday
• Postcode check: Find out the rules where you live

Image source, PA Media

The coronavirus vaccine has begun its roll out in Scotland - with vaccinators themselves the first to receive the jabs.

An initial batch of 65,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in Scotland at the weekend.

They are being stored at 23 sites that will act as vaccination centres for priority groups.

The first person in the UK to receive the vaccine was a 90-year-old woman, given the vaccine at a hospital in Coventry.

Margaret Keenan is the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine outside trial conditions - marking the start of the UK's mass vaccination programme.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that watching a video of Ms Keenan receiving the vaccine had given her "a lump in the throat", external.

• Read more about the vaccination programme in Scotland here
• Live: UK's vaccination programme begins
• When will I be vaccinated against Covid?
• How do I know the Covid vaccine is safe?

Image source, NHS Borders

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC Scotland's rolling coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic on this historic day.

A 90-year-old woman has become the first person to be given a Covid jab as part of the mass vaccination programme being rolled out across the UK.

Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, said it was the "best early birthday present".