The UK began a mass Covid-19 vaccination programme on Tuesday, beginning with the elderly, health workers, and carers. The country was the first to approve use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Is the vaccine safe for people with chronic illnesses? What demographics was the vaccine tested on? Dr Penny Ward, a professor of pharmaceutical medicine, answers members of the public's questions about the Covid-19 vaccine.

More of your questions about the vaccine are answered here.

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We mentioned earlier that Germans woke today to the miserable news that daily Covid cases and deaths had reached record highs.

Well the country is now facing calls for a second lockdown before Christmas.

"We have to act urgently. We have to do more than was previously planned," warned Economy Minister Peter Altmaier.

Germany has been under partial lockdown since early November, shutting bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, and a relaxation had been planned over Christmas.

But the rise in infections has increasingly alarmed top officials, with Lothar Wieler, head of Germany's public healthy body, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), describing the situation as "extremely fragile".

Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned speech in the Bundestag (parliament) this week calling for tighter measures, saying that "500 deaths a day is unacceptable".

Read more on this story here.

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Northern Ireland's health minister has warned that more restrictions are "inevitable" at the start of 2021.

Speaking on Friday, Robin Swann said the severity of those restrictions would "depend on people's actions over the next few weeks".

A two-week national lockdown ended at 23:59 on Thursday.

Swann has urged people to not be careless as restrictions ease.

The number of Covid-related deaths registered in the country has risen. A total of 98 deaths were registered in the week up to Friday 4 December, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

That is 17 more deaths than the previous week.

Read more here.

Keri Jouelle Liu qualified as a junior doctor shortly before the coronavirus outbreak.

She treated Covid-19 patients at the height of the pandemic in Hull and shared her experience with the BBC.

The 25-year-old, from Singapore, told the BBC: “What I found quite upsetting was sometimes the fact that just young, fit people who suddenly deteriorated whilst they’re on the ward. I think it’s something you wonder to yourself, perhaps that could be me."

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Switzerland has issued new restrictions for large parts of the country as infection rates continue to rise.

More than 5,136 new cases and 106 deaths were reported in Switzerland and Lichtenstein on Friday.

Under the new rules, which come into effect on Saturday, bars, restaurants and shops in the country’s worst affected areas will close from 19:00.

Areas less affected by the pandemic are allowed to remain open until 23:00, the government said. These locations must have an R rate of less than one and an infection rate below the national average for at least a week, Reuters news agency reports.

Switzerland has recorded more than 368,695 cases and 5,824 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Welsh and Scottish first ministers have finished giving separate press conferences.

In Wales, Mark Drakeford confirmed that the Welsh Government’s new restrictions plan would allow for different alert levels across Wales.

He also said that any future lockdown would not be time-limited, but reviewed “on a regular cycle”.

In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon spoke as parts of the country move from level four to level three in its tiered system of Covid restrictions.

She thanked people living in those areas for their compliance and said infection rates have reduced as a result - but warned that progress can go into reverse "very quickly".

Read the latest from Wales here and from Scotland here.

The reproduction number - or R value - of coronavirus transmission across the UK is now between 0.9 and 1, the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has said.

Last week, the R number was between 0.8 and 1.

R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.

When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially.

An R number between 0.9 and 1 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 9 and 10 other people.

The R value in England is between 0.8 and 1, but Sage said it is not confident that R is below 1 in all English regions, particularly in London and parts of the South East.

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

In the UK, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to be safe and effective by the medicines regulator and has been approved for mass use in over-16s.

Two other vaccines - developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna - could also be approved soon and ready for widespread use.

Vaccines are initially being given to the most vulnerable, as set out in a list of high-priority groups, external, covering about a quarter of the UK population.

The second phase of vaccination will focus on the rest of the population, mainly the under-50s, who are much less likely to be ill with Covid-19.

Teachers, transport workers and the military could be prioritised at that point, but more data on how well the vaccines are working will be needed before that decision is made.

It could be well into 2021 before this phase begins, by which time more Covid vaccines could be approved for use.

Find out more here.

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Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has backed Sky News's decision not to sack presenter Kay Burley and political editor Beth Rigby over Covid rule breaches.

"I have great respect for Kay Burley and Beth Rigby as journalists," he told Times Radio, external. "They've apologised, they've come off air."

He added: "I think that is a suitable response."

Burley will be off air for six months following an internal inquiry, while Rigby and correspondent Inzamam Rashid will be absent for three months.

The channel described them as agreed absences, rather than suspensions.

Sky's inquiry concluded that the trio broke Covid regulations on a night out for Burley's 60th birthday at the weekend.

It is believed that 10 people went to a restaurant in London, split over two tables, which Burley said she believed at the time was "Covid-compliant".

She then briefly went into another restaurant before some members of the group moved on to a private residence, where individuals from at least three households mixed, the BBC has been told.

Read the full story here.

Gavin Bevis
BBC News

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Health bosses in Nottinghamshire have said some people have been abusive to NHS staff after being told they cannot have the Covid-19 vaccination yet.

Dr Andy Haynes, head of the city and county's Integrated Care System, said people needed to understand the vaccine was being rolled out in a set order based on prioritisation of risk.

He said: "It's important people don't swamp our phone lines by seeking to get the vaccine. We've had one or two people this week who have been rather frustrated and abusive to staff when they've not been able to obtain a vaccine.

"When it's your turn to be vaccinated you'll be notified by letter and that letter will contain all the information you need."

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Wales could see different restrictions in different areas, depending on the prevalence of Covid-19, First Minister Mark Drakeford said.

A plan setting out the Welsh Government’s approach to lockdowns will be published on Monday and debated in the Senedd on Tuesday.

"We will also set out how, if it were to be the case that some parts of Wales established themselves in a reliable and predictable and sustainable way as having a different level of the virus to other parts of Wales, it would be possible to have more than one level in Wales," he said.

"That is not the position we are in in Wales today - the virus is rising everywhere."

The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has said it will proceed with emergency use approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine - and that it should be authorised within a couple of days.

In a statement, the FDA said it would "rapidly work toward finalisation and issuance" of the authorisation.

"The agency has also notified the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Operation Warp Speed [the federal government's vaccine distribution programme], so they can execute their plans for timely vaccine distribution," the FDA statement said.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar said the US would work with Pfizer to get the vaccine shipped out, so that it could be administered to the most vulnerable people by Monday or Tuesday.

The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Read more on this story here.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

The Nigerian government has said preparations have been made to receive 20 million doses of one of the Covid-19 vaccines under development globally by early next year.

It comes after Health Minister Dr Osagie Ehanire ordered all isolation centres across the country to reopen, in light of the rising number of daily confirmed cases.

Africa's most populous nation says the priority would be for workers in the health sector and vulnerable citizens to receive any vaccines first.

At a Covid-19 media briefing in the capital Abuja on Thursday, head of Nigeria's Primary Health Care Development Agency Faisal Shuaib said the country would be using its polio vaccination system to ensure effective delivery of the vaccines.

Shuaib said that Nigeria was one of 92 countries that formed an international coalition set up to ensure access to safe vaccines, known as the Covax scheme.

This week a senior Nigerian Army officer reportedly died of complications relating to Covid-19 in Abuja.

Over the past week, Nigeria has seen an upsurge in the number of daily confirmed cases, sparking fears there will be a second wave of the pandemic.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that about 480,000 people in England had coronavirus in the week ending 5 December.

During the lockdown, which ended on 2 December, virus levels fell to those last seen in mid-October.

However, levels in London started to rise sharply just before the end of lockdown, according to the figures.

In Wales, the ONS estimates that nearly 26,000 people had coronavirus that week. After falling during - and immediately after - the firebreak lockdown, virus levels have returned to those seen at the end of October.

In Northern Ireland, the number of people estimated to have coronavirus has been falling steadily since figures were first published, and now stand at just under 8,000 people.

In Scotland, it has been broadly stable over recent weeks, and this week's estimate is 43,000 people.

Coronavirus cases in England are still falling - but they are estimated to have increased in London, and there are early signs rates may be up in eastern England, the Office for National Statistics has said.

The ONS figures for the week to 5 December show 1-in-115 people had the virus in England.

It added that 1-in-120 people in Scotland and Wales were infected.

Scotland figures were stable but it means Wales is seeing a rising numbers of people infected.

The infection rate in Northern Ireland is falling, with 1-in-235 people affected.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirms a further 1,001 people have tested positive for Covid-19, and a further 31 people have died.

The total number of positive cases recorded in Scotland now stands at 104,306.

Ms Sturgeon says the number of cases was the highest in Scotland for a while and the first time in some days that it had been over 1,000.

But she says she is encouraged that the test positivity rate is now below 5%, the level at which the WHO determines whether an outbreak is under control.

However, the larger number is a reminder that the virus is still circulating and still very infectious, she adds.

James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent, BBC News

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The hope with combining the Oxford and Sputnik V vaccines is that different vaccines will give either stronger or longer-lasting immunity to the virus.

There are reasons to think that this might be beneficial with these two particular jabs.

Both use harmless viruses to deliver the important part of the vaccine (a bit of the coronavirus' genetic code) into the body.

The risk is that the body becomes immune to the viral postman so the second or booster jab is less effective.

This is one explanation for why Oxford had better results from giving someone a half dose followed by a full one.

Other vaccine combinations have also been planned in the hope that approaching the challenge from different angles will lead to better results.

A post-Christmas lockdown will happen in Wales if the number of coronavirus cases does not begin to fall, First Minister Mark Drakeford said today.

A five-day relaxation of rules begins on 23 December, but with more than 1,900 Covid patients in hospital there is pressure for tougher rules from the 28 December.

Although Mr Drakeford said a new lockdown was “not a foregone conclusion”, he said: “Our NHS will not be able to cope if we continue to see this level of coronavirus-related admissions in the coming weeks, on top of the normal winter pressures.”

Secondary schools in Wales are moving to online learning next week, with some primary schools following suit.

And a new announcement today will see outdoor attractions also being closed.

Mr Drakeford said: “I must be clear with you – if the strengthened measures of last week and the extra actions of this week, together with the efforts of each and every one of us do not succeed in turning the tide of the virus – then it is inevitable that we will have to move to alert level four after Christmas.”

Alert level four is the highest level under the Welsh Government’s so-called traffic light system.

Image source, Reuters

A coronavirus adviser to President-elect Joe Biden has urged people to celebrate Christmas within their household and avoid gathering with others.

Dr Michael Osterholm told CNN there was "not a safe Christmas party in the country right now" unless everyone present had isolated for 10 to 14 days.

"I don't care if I'm being accused of being the Grinch that stole Christmas. But you know what? I want you to be around for the next Christmas and the next Christmas after that," he said.

He added that if students were coming home from university, they were classed as outside their household and should quarantine.

The US is seeing peak infections of close to 200,000 a day on average with record numbers of people in hospital.

There are concerns that the situation will worsen after millions of people defied appeals from experts not to travel over Thanksgiving last month. Osterholm said the country could "be just picking up the beginning of the Thanksgiving surge, but surelyin the following week we're going to see it, external”.

Top US diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci has warned of another surge in cases after Christmas and said the longer Christmas/New Year period may be even more of a challenge.

New Covid-19 rules came into effect across Northern Ireland today, with many previous restrictions being relaxed or lifted.

Non-essential retail and some parts of the hospitality sector are now able to reopen.

BBC News NI's Jordan Kenny gives you an update of everything you need to know.