Image source, John Cairns/University of Oxford

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was created at lightning speed and the result of months of hard work from scientists.

But there have been plenty of setbacks and dramas along the way - from a rush to charter a jet when a flight ban prevented the vaccine getting into the country to false reports on social media that the first volunteer to be immunised had died.

Our medical editor Fergus Walsh has been following the development of the vaccine since January - you can read the fascinating inside story here or watch this episode of Panorama.

Prof Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, told BBC Breakfast earlier that the Oxford-AstraZeneca approval was "a triumph for both academia and clinical research this year". Watch his interview:

Image source, Reuters

Here’s a quick look at some of the latest developments from across Europe:

• Germany has recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths in a day for the first time. A total of 1,129 deaths were reported by the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. It came as officials warned that lockdown restrictions could be extended beyond 10 January
• Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa is ending a 14-day period of isolation, following a negative result from a Covid-19 test, his office said in a statement. The politician began isolating after French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for coronavirus, the day after the two men had a meeting in Paris

• Health authorities in Switzerland have confirmed that an elderly person vaccinated against Covid-19 has subsequently died. A spokesperson for the canton of Lucerne provided no details as to whether the death could be connected to the vaccination, but said the case had been referred to Switzerland’s drugs regulatory body
• Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says he has ruled out making coronavirus vaccines mandatory, but is confident there will be large-scale demand for the jabs, Reuters news agency reports

Image source, VYBETOGETHER/TIKTOK/TAYLORLORENZ

An American app that promoted private parties during the coronavirus pandemic has been removed from the Apple App Store.

Vybe Together calls itself a "private community to find, join and host parties".

A recent video on its TikTok account claimed it held secret parties every weekend.

Although its account on the platform, as well as its own website, has been taken down, the company vows to return.

"App Store took us down! We will be back! Follow to stay updated!" its Instagram account description now reads.

Read more

Image source, EPA

We're expecting an announcement on changes to England's tier system this afternoon, with millions more people set to be placed under the toughest tier four restrictions.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the details of which areas will be affected in a Commons statement at around 15:00 GMT.

Infection rates in lower tier areas of England have risen rapidly in the last seven days, government data shows.

Hartlepool, parts of the East Midlands such as Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, and all areas of the West Midlands metropolitan county are among the areas that could move to tier four.

It is thought a handful of areas in Lancashire - Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley - could also be upgraded from tier three.

And there may 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 virus variant.

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

We've just had it confirmed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lead a press conference on coronavirus in the UK from Downing Street at 17:00 GMT.

Image source, EPA

The US Senate is wrangling over boosting one-off payments for Americans hit by the coronavirus downturn.

Americans are due to begin receiving $600 (£441) each under a $900bn-coronavirus stimulus package signed into law on Sunday.

But President Donald Trump, Democrats and some Republicans say this is not enough, and want the payments boosted to $2,000.

Republicans blocked a Democratic Party proposal for a quick vote on boosting the payment. Most Senate Republicans are opposed, saying they are not the best way of helping those hardest hit by the pandemic.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has instead linked the issue to two other proposals, on legal immunity for tech companies and electoral fraud.

He said the Senate would "begin a process" and bring all issues "into focus".

Read the full story here

Image source, Reuters

Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm has announced that a coronavirus vaccine it is developing is 79% effective, and said it has applied for regulatory approval.

The UAE earlier this month said the same vaccine was 86% effective, according to interim results of its phase three trial.

A company spokeswoman declined to explain the discrepancy, and said detailed results would be released later, according to a Reuters report.

Even ahead of the phase three trial results, the vaccine had already been distributed to nearly a million people in China under an emergency programme.

Prof Dale Fisher, of the National University of Singapore, said then that it was "unconventional" to ramp up a vaccine programme without first going through last stage trials.

You can read more about the Chinese vaccines being developed here

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

The weekly number of registered coronavirus deaths has risen again after two weeks of slight falls.

It brings the total number of these deaths registered in the UK to more than 82,000.

That is now close to the total number of excess deaths - those above expected levels - registered since the pandemic began.

In the week to 18 December, nearly 3,300 deaths involving coronavirus were registered in the UK, up from just over 3,000 the previous week.

In total,14,627 deaths were registered in the week ending 18 December across the UK.

That is about 11% above the expected level for the week (just under 1,500 excess deaths) and up on the previous week.

In case you missed the Downing Street technical briefing, here is a video of Dr June Raine, chief executive of the UK medicines regulator the MHRA, discussing the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Image source, PA Media

It's been a busy morning so if you're just joining us here's a quick recap of the main stories in the UK and around the world:

• The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday
• It comes as millions more people in England are to be placed under the toughest tier four restrictions, as case numbers continue to rise. Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the details of which areas will be affected in a Commons statement this afternoon
• Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is also due to make a Commons statement about the return of schools in England in January
• A major incident has been declared in Essex amid fears the number of Covid-19 cases could overwhelm the county's health services

• The US has reported its first known case of the highly infectious variant that was first found in the UK
• Nearly 500,000 in the Chinese city of Wuhan - almost 5% of its population - may have been infected with Covid-19, according to a new study
• Newly elected US lawmaker Luke Letlow, 41, has died from Covid

We come to the closing remarks at the briefing. Sir Munir Pirmohamed says he agrees with people who have said that the vaccines have meant we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, however, he adds that we’re not there yet.

He says the vaccines are new and we need "to learn much more" about their long-term effectiveness and safety.

Dr June Raine says "we are another step closer to defeating this virus" but adds that "no-one should drop their guard" now.

"We are fighting back now and this is another blow to this virus."

She ends the briefing by saying the regulator’s clear message is that "you can have every confidence in the safety, effectiveness and quality" of the Oxford vaccine.

Rebecca Thomas from the Health Service Journal asked if the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation would issue new priority guidance to account for the fast spread of the new variant, and if it would give greater priority to NHS staff.

Prof Wei Shen Lim said he was "very well aware of the pressures on the health service".

At the moment health professionals are already one of the highest priority groups and with today’s announcement there will be a "much greater supply in vaccine availability", which will mean that all NHS frontline workers will "very soon" be able to be offered a vaccine, he said.

We're continuing to bring up updates from the Downing Street briefing on the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Asked whether doses of the Pfizer vaccine and the Oxford vaccine could be mixed, Prof Munir Pirmohamed says they are not advising that as there is not currently any data, adding that people should have two doses of the same vaccine.

He adds that trials are planned where people will receive different vaccines at different time points which might show whether the vaccine can be mixed.

Asked about the level of protection provided by the Oxford vaccine, Prof Wei Shen Lim says there is "no advice at the moment that suggests that having been vaccinated anybody should relax or stop adhering to social distancing measures”.

He says vaccination “is one strand in our defence” against coronavirus.

“At the appropriate time, when we can see the vaccine having a true effect on severe disease and protecting people from dying, then perhaps we can start relaxing social distancing measures," he said.

Asked about comments from Matt Hancock that the vaccine could mean exiting the pandemic in the spring, Prof Wei Shen Lim says "it's realistic to be optimistic - trying to put a time to when we can exit and return back to normal is much more difficult clearly".

Kate Pickles from the Daily Mail asks how the 12-week gap between doses was reached.

Sir Munir Pirmohamed says they looked at the trial data, noting that some people were given the second dose at four weeks and some at up to 26 weeks after the first.

He said they felt that the data was "most robust" between four and 12 weeks.

Jane Merrick from the i newspaper asks whether the vaccine is effective against the new variant of coronavirus and whether it prevents transmission of the virus.

Sir Munir Pirmohamed, the chair of the Commission on Human Medicine Expert Working Group, says further studies will need to be done to determine whether the vaccine reduces transmission.

He also says: “There is no data at the moment which suggests that the new variant evades the vaccine in terms of effectiveness of the vaccine."

Dr June Raine adds that studies are ongoing to confirm its effectiveness against the new variant “and will be available in the coming days”.

The third question comes from Sky News' Thomas Moore, who says the government is using unpublished data to justify the 12-week regime between doses. He asks how much confidence the public can have in this.

Dr Raine says "the public and everyone who's listening can be absolutely confident that the scientific rigour of our assessment has been as we would normally do it according to guidelines and standards".

"It has been a thoroughly robust process on safety, on quality and on effectiveness," she says.

The second question is about whether the priority list in phase one of the vaccination programme will be widened to include other groups such as key workers.

Prof Wei Shen Lim, who is chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, says there are many key workers and they have received many requests from professional groups who are concerned and want the vaccine.

He says any teachers over 50 will be eligible for a vaccine in the first phase, as will those under 50 with underlying health conditions.

Phase two will take into account "a range of other professions and key workers", he says, particularly if they can’t avoid travelling to work or they can’t avoid exposure at work.

He adds that the decision about those vaccinated in phase two “has not been made yet”. He says the rate of delivering the vaccine will determine when phase two is decided.

The BBC's Fergus Walsh asks what level of protection one dose of the Oxford vaccine gives and how sure the panel is that the vaccine protects the elderly.

Sir Munir Pirmohamed said data shows protection starts after day 22 and is afforded until at least three months.

Available data suggests the vaccine is effective in older people as well, but more data is needed to confirm this, he said.

Prof Wei Shen Lim said data suggests the vaccine is about 70% effective from day 22 until the second dose up to three months later.

Dr June Raine stressed that safety and effectiveness in the elderly are approved.

It is now the turn of Prof Wei Shen Lim, who is chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which decides the order in which people will get the jab.

He says there have been no trials so far comparing the Pfizer and the Oxford vaccines so it is not possible to compare their results.

Therefore he says the JCVI advises that both vaccines should be used in phase one of the programme, “with no preference” for one above the other.

He adds that the logistical considerations are important and in certain settings one may be offered in favour of another to avoid wastage.

The high rates of infections in the UK mean "the immediate urgency is for rapid and high levels of vaccine uptake". He says delivery of the first dose of both vaccines should be prioritised, allowing more people to receive it and “protecting the greatest number of lives”.

He stresses that the second dose of the vaccine is still important because "it may impact on the duration of protection".