We have more detail now on the announcement that, from today, travellers who have had a booster vaccine or third dose will be able to show that through the NHS Covid Pass.

The government says booster and third doses will not be added to the domestic Covid pass because people in the UK are not currently required to receive booster doses to qualify as fully vaccinated.

It will also not be necessary to show evidence of a booster for travel into England at this time, the government says.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid says: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to show their vaccine status if they are travelling abroad.

“This update to the NHS Covid Pass will mean people can have their complete medical picture at their fingertips if they are going on holiday or seeing loved ones overseas."

Over 13 million booster and third jabs have now been administered in the UK.

This week, the government accepted the advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to expand boosters to those aged 40-49.

Travellers who have had a booster or a third dose will be able to demonstrate their vaccine status through the NHS Covid Pass from today, the government has announced.

It will enable those who have had their booster or third dose to travel to countries including Israel, Croatia and Austria, who have already introduced a time limit for the Covid-19 vaccine to be valid for quarantine-free travel.

Image source, Getty Images

Some positive news for retailers this morning.

Clothing sales in the UK reached their highest levels in October since the start of the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics says.

Sales rose by 0.8% in October, following no growth in September, according to the Office for National Statistics, external.

Early Christmas shopping helped to push up shop sales, with people also spending more on toys.

Since July, a number of competing factors have left Covid cases in the UK fluctuating with small rises and falls. Overall, however, case numbers have remained high.

The current seven-day average for cases is 39,609 per day.

The UK's vaccination programme means far fewer of those cases will end up in hospital. Nevertheless, the latest available figures show there are more than 8,000 people in hospital with Covid-19.

There is a slight delay between Covid cases, hospital admissions and deaths. The latest seven-day average for deaths is now 147 per day. This is substantially lower than the January peak

We've got a bit more on that National Audit Office report.

The watchdog says preparations for a flu pandemic or highly infectious diseases like Ebola were prioritised over diseases with similar characteristics to Covid.

It says the UK government did not have specific plans to tackle a disease like Covid-19, which has a lower mortality rate than Ebola but can be spread by people showing no symptoms of infection.

The report suggests the government had some mitigations in place for a pandemic, like stockpile of personal protective equipment, but it lacked preparation for the "wide-ranging impacts" coronavirus and other pandemic-inducing viruses can have on society.

Image source, EPA

As we mentioned earlier, a report by the spending watchdog has found the UK government was not properly prepared for a pandemic like Covid-19.

The National Audit Office says the government lacked detailed plans on shielding, job support schemes and school disruption.

It says lessons need to be learned from what happened.

The government says the unprecedented pandemic has challenged health systems around the world - not just the UK.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning and welcome to Friday's coronavirus live page. We’ll be bringing you the main pandemic developments from the UK and around the world.

Here are the main stories so far today:

• The UK was not fully prepared for the wide-ranging impacts of Covid-19 on society, a major new report has found. The National Audit Office says the government lacked detailed plans on shielding, job support schemes and school disruption
• People working from home in Northern Ireland during the first wave of the pandemic "should be working from home" again, the government says
• Clothing sales in the UK have reached their highest level since the start of the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics