The SNP's spokesperson Dr Philippa Whiftord asks the health secretary if he thinks it's time to put the whole of England into tightened tier four restrictions.

Mr Hancock says: "I have just announced the need to move a significant proportion of England into tier four restrictions and I welcome the implicit support for that measure.

"But also where it is possible to keep some of the freedoms that we all cherish, then I think we should, and that's the basis of the tiered approach."

An additional 20 million people will be in tier four of the government's Covid restrictions from tomorrow.

This means a total of 44 million people will now be in tier four, or 78% of the population of England.

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With the NHS now busier than it was in April, the Conservative chair of the Commons health committee, Jeremy Hunt, asks why the government is taking "huge risks" by allowing primary schools to reopen next week and universities to return.

Matt Hancock replies by saying the government's strategy is to keep the virus suppressed while a vaccine is rolled out as fast as possible.

On schools, he says the education secretary will be setting out in a statement shortly with details of how the government will manage the "very difficult balance of keeping children in education as much as possible... whilst also ensuring we don’t spread the virus any further".

Here's a round-up of the local authority areas that will move into tier three at 00:01 on Thursday:

• Rutland
• Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
• Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
• Herefordshire
• Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)
• York & North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)
• Bath and North East Somerset
• Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)
• Cornwall
• Dorset
• Wiltshire

Click here for a reminder of what the restrictions in the different tiers are

Millions more people across England will join the toughest tier of Covid restrictions from 00:01 on Thursday.

Here is a breakdown of where:

• Leicester City
• Leicestershire (Oadby and Wigston, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton)
• Lincolnshire (City of Lincoln, Boston, South Kesteven, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland, East Lindsey)
• Northamptonshire (Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough)
• Derby and Derbyshire (Derby, Amber Valley, South Derbyshire, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak)
• Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (Gedling, Ashfield, Mansfield, Rushcliffe, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, Broxtowe)
• Birmingham and Black Country (Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton)
• Coventry
• Solihull
• Warwickshire (Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwick, North Warwickshire, Stratford-upon-Avon)
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (East Staffordshire, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle under Lyme, Tamworth, Stoke-on-Trent)
• Lancashire (Burnley, Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley, Blackpool, Preston, Hyndburn, Chorley, Fylde, Lancaster, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre)
• Cheshire and Warrington (Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington)
• Cumbria (Eden, Carlisle, South Lakeland, Barrow-in-Furness, Copeland, Allerdale)
• Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)
• Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees)
• North East (County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland)
• Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Tewkesbury, Stroud, Cheltenham)
• Somerset Council (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset)
• Swindon
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
• Isle of Wight
• New Forest

Responding to Matt Hancock's statement, the shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth asks how long lockdowns will be in place.

The health secretary responds by saying "the end is in sight" thanks to the vaccine, but doesn't give a specific date.

Ashworth also describes today's vaccine news as a "tremendous boost" but asks how many doses the UK has ready to go now.

Hancock replies that there are 530,000 across the UK that are available for deployment in the first week of January.

Matt Hancock ends his statement to the Commons by saying "we must all stick at it during the difficult weeks ahead".

"We end 2020 still with great challenges but also with hope and confidence that in 2021 we have a brighter future ahead," he says.

Here’s some more from Boris Johnson, who has been speaking to the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Asked whether he had been too slow to act, the UK prime minister said that 60% of the new coronavirus cases in the UK were now the new variant of the virus, which the government wasn’t "able to budget for".

"It's spreading rapidly from the places where it's started in, in the east of London and in Kent. And alas, it's starting to seed across the country."

Following the arrival of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Johnson warned that people "should not, in any way think that this is over" as "the virus is really surging".

He added: "There are plenty of reasons for people to be optimistic about the spring, but we must must focus on fighting the disease for now."

Matt Hancock says sharply rising cases and the hospitalisations that follow “demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading”.

He says the majority of new cases are believed to be the new variant, which is now spreading across most of England, with cases doubling fast.

The health secretary says it is therefore necessary to apply tier four measures to a wider area including the remaining parts of the South East, as well as large parts of the Midlands, north-east and south-west England.

Tier three restrictions will also be expanded to Liverpool and North Yorkshire.

The changes come into affect at 00:01 GMT on Thursday.

More from the Commons now.

The health secretary says the UK has 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstaZeneca vaccine on order, "which combined with the Pfizer vaccine is enough to vaccine every adult in the UK with both doses".

"Everyone who wants one, can get a vaccine," he says.

We'll continue to bring you updates from the Commons.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been speaking to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg. He said it was "fantastic" that the country had a "UK-made vaccine" but there were going to be "tough weeks ahead".

"We've got I'm afraid, the virus really surging in some parts of the country - increasing virtually everywhere," he said.

He said because of that, the government has had to look "very hard" at what to do with schools.

His comments come ahead of an announcement from the education secretary, who is expected to set out new plans for the start of the school term in England, amid growing pressure for a delay.

Johnson said he couldn't give an answer yet as to when he could "begin to unlock" the country, adding: "The spring is unquestionably correct. But to be more precise than that now, is, is I'm afraid impossible."

"So we've got tough weeks ahead, but with two really good vaccines now available, and coming on stream in the hundreds of thousands… so there are plenty of reasons for people to be optimistic about the spring, but we must, must focus on fighting the disease for now."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock describes the UK's approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as "the single biggest stride that we’ve been able to take since this pandemic began".

He says scientists worked at "lightening speed" and congratulates all those involved.

He says the approval is not just a "British success story" but a "victory for all" because the vaccine is affordable and can be stored at normal fridge temperatures.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is now beginning his Commons statement on changes to the tier system in England.

Lancashire’s council leaders have been told the county will move into tier four from midnight tonight.

We're due to hear an update from the health secretary in the Commons shortly about England's Covid tiers.

• What are the rules for tier four?

Image source, Getty Images

Germany has reported more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths in a day for the first time.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said that current restrictions would likely need to be maintained for longer than first thought.

"Those numbers show once again how brutal this virus is. The infections and numbers of deaths also show that we are still very far from the normality that we would wish to live in," he said.

"I don't see how in this situation we can go back to where we were before the lockdown, however difficult it may be."

It comes as health authorities in Germany approved a new rapid coronavirus test that can give results within 40 minutes.

GNA Biosolutions, the biotechnology company that developed the process, says the portable test equipment weighs less than two kilograms and can analyse eight samples simultaneously.

The company says it hopes the European Union will authorise the new procedure within the next three months.

Image source, Getty Images

Updated guidance enabling women who are pregnant or breastfeeding to receive a Covid vaccine has been welcomed by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

The UK's medicines regulator has said pregnant and breastfeeding women can take either of the two approved vaccines "when the potential benefits outweigh the risks".

Clare Murphy, chief executive of BPAS, said: "We know some women have felt forced to choose between continuing to feed their baby in the way that works best for them and receiving the vaccine and this new guidance should mean women can now make their own choices, based on their own personal circumstances and health needs."

She said the move would also provide "additional reassurance" to women who find out they are pregnant shortly after receiving the vaccine.

She added: "Unplanned pregnancy is common in the UK, but unplanned is not synonymous with unwanted - and we have been concerned that the guidance advising against use in pregnancy may cause unnecessary anxiety and result in the termination of otherwise wanted pregnancies."

Image source, PA Media

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to make a statement in the Commons on changes to the tier system in England at around 15:00 GMT.

Millions more people in England are expected to be placed under the toughest tier four restrictions as case numbers continue to rise.

Tier four rules include a "stay at home" order, and mean businesses such as non-essential shops, hairdressers and gyms must close.

There may also be further curbs for areas already in the highest tier amid concerns that the current rules are not enough to stop the fast-spreading new variant.

We’ll bring you all the latest updates and analysis here.

Image source, YouTube

A recently elected US lawmaker has died from Covid-19 - the first member of the US Congress to die with the disease.

Republican Luke Letlow, 41, had been elected as Representative for Louisiana's 5th district and was due to be sworn in on Sunday.

People have been paying tribute to Letlow, who announced on 18 December that he had tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to hospital soon afterwards.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards ordered flags to be flown at half-mast on the day of Letlow's funeral.

"Another devastating blow during an already difficult year," tweeted Republican Tim Scott.

"An incredibly sad and untimely ending. My heart aches for Luke Letlow's young kids and family," tweeted trauma surgeon Joseph Sakran.

"41, healthy, & had access to care. We should all learn from this experience along with the other 340K deaths - we are not invincible."

Read more here.

Image source, PA Media

Staff at a company in Wrexham, north Wales, which will make up to 250 million doses a year of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are preparing to begin its full production.

Pharmaceutical group Wockhardt won the contract last August to manufacture the vaccine.

The firm's UK managing director Ravi Limaye said being involved in the rollout was "a matter of great pride to the team and to the whole town".

"In our careers as pharmaceutical professionals, this is the moment where we as pharmacists can stand up and be counted and make a difference to human life," he said.

"It's nice to know the difference that this town - Wrexham - can make to the pandemic and to the course of history. We're fortunate to be given this opportunity to make a difference."

More from Kate Bingham, the former chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce. She says the UK could end up with a surplus of effective vaccines.

She says that when the taskforce was launched in May to get supplies of vaccines for the UK, there was no evidence an effective vaccine could be developed as "there had been no vaccine against any human coronavirus".

The development of vaccines for Covid-19 had "ended up more successful than we thought, and I think than all experts thought", she said, adding that it reflected the "fundamental improvements that have been made” over the last decade in vaccines.

The UK has so far order 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and seven million doses of the Moderna jab - all of which require two doses for full protection.

"It does look that it's possible that we will end up with more vaccines than we need for the UK - and then it will be a matter for the government to decide what and how they want to use those potential surplus vaccines," she said.

Image source, University of Oxford

The UK's vaccine strategy has been "validated" by the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Kate Bingham - former chair of the Vaccine Taskforce which was set up in May to get supplies of effective vaccines to British people.

She told BBC Radio 4's World at One that the news was expected but it was "good news for the world”.

She said speed had been a “core part” of the strategy and she was “really pleased with how it has panned out”.

Asked whether she had been worried when the Moderna vaccine was approved in the US before the Oxford vaccine got approval, she said the taskforce had done work on the Moderna vaccine and "it looked good" but its availability to the UK was “behind the others”.

That was why they had prioritised the Pfizer vaccine “because we felt we would get supply of that vaccine earlier than we would get Moderna”, she said.

“In hindsight that has turned out to be correct but of course we were making those decisions without full data because that is the world in which we’ve been operating”.