the prime minister says it's too early
to say when restrictions in england can
start to be lifted as some scientists
suggested that pubs and restaurants
should stay closed until may the expert
studying the spread of covid said
reopening the hospitality sector too
soon could lead to another wave
and unsustainable pressure on the nhs
meanwhile england's education secretary
gavin williamson said he certainly hoped
schools in england
could fully reopen before easter
something downing street refused to be
drawn on
the rollout of the vaccination programme
continues with 65
new centres open today almost 5 million
people have now been vaccinated
as our medical editor fergus walsh
reports
life in lockdown has become the new
normal
most classrooms stand idle shops pubs
and sports centers are locked up
holidays a distant dream
protecting lives comes at a heavy price
in ruined livelihoods and loneliness
and it seems there's no clear end in
sight
i think it's too early to say when
uh we'll be able to lift some of the
some of the restrictions
we're seeing the uh the the
contagiousness of the
of the new variant that we saw arrive
just before
christmas there's no doubt it does
spread uh very fast
indeed it's not more deadly but it is
much more
contagious labour too can't say when
measures
should be eased we need to look at the
infection rates we need to look at the
emission rates
and look at the pressure on the nhs and
tragically the death rates and we need
to see those numbers
moving and there's no party politics in
this everybody wants those numbers to
come down
which is why it's very important
everybody complies with the government
guidance
every month imperial college london
sends out coronavirus testing kits
to 140 000 plus people across
england it picks up those with and
without symptoms
and the latest findings are worrying the
swabs were carried out between
january the 6th and the 15th they
suggest that 1 in
63 people in england was infected
and there was no apparent decline in
cases
during those 10 days now that's puzzling
because we look at
uk wide positive tests there was
a sharp decline during the same period
from around
60 000 cases a day to around 40
000 i think it's showing us that the
lockdown is partially working there's
been a change in behavior
and and the epidemic isn't growing as
fast as it would have done
but we need it to be shrinking right now
kind of just keeping it levels not
enough given the pressure
on hospitals and the number of deaths we
have each day
that's why vaccination is the hot ticket
this cinema in elsbree buckinghamshire
is now a coveted vaccination center
no popcorn on offer but the chance for
people to get a jab
in the heart of their community this
mosque in birmingham
is the first in england to offer the
vaccine bame
groups are at higher risk from cobit so
centers
like this could be important in
increasing uptake
and countering misinformation about the
jab there is nothing to be worried about
musk is open to tell you that this is
genuine
and this is in line with the teachings
of islam
is there any other way of tackling this
pandemic
than the vaccine i don't see any other
way
200 covid vaccines a minute are being
given across the uk
the aim by valentine's day to immunize
all
over 70s frontline health workers and
those shielding
nhs england data shows marked regional
variations for the rollout
in the northeastern yorkshire and north
west around
two-thirds of over 80s had received the
jab
by january the 17th by contrast in
london and the east of england
only around 50 percent of the over 80s
had their
first dose the south west midlands
and southeast were all around the 60
mark
across the other nations supply issues
continued to hamper vaccine delivery
okay here we are less than half those
over 80
have been vaccinated in scotland and
northern ireland
so in the race between the virus and the
vaccine
it's covered which still has a
commanding lead
fergus walsh bbc news our political
editor laura ginsberg
is in westminster so laura uncertainty
about how long the lockdown can go on
for and concern as well in government
about the small minority
who continue to very openly flout the
rules
well sophie let's just take stock of
what politicians have been seeing today
saying today i mean the home secretary
priti patel said that it's just too
early to contemplate lifting any kind of
restrictions
and introduced a new fine for people in
england caught going to a house party
the education secretary said he'd love
to see schools backed by easter but
there was no guarantee
the prime minister said it was too early
to be being sure that lockdown would be
lifted in spring
hop over to northern ireland michelle
o'neill and arlene foster extended lock
down there till march
in scotland it's already in place until
the middle of february and in wales
there's no sign of
anything unfreezing anytime soon and
when we go through those list of remarks
from the people who will make the
decisions about this
in the weeks and months to come clearly
the mood is one of caution
and the mood is one of real concern of
course there are signs
that the disease may be slightly losing
a little of its grip
cases flattening off and of course who
could watch the images
of vaccines going into the elderly's
arms and not feel anything other than
cheered or optimistic about the
possibility of that especially the way
in which the uk
although it's patchy is way ahead of so
many other countries
but i think the mood among politicians
is that this time around there is no
appetite to rush this i think there's a
memory of the promise that was made to
the country about how we might be able
to celebrate at christmas
that then they had to go back on so i
think
any talk of being sure that there will
be a rollback of restrictions by early
spring
is very very much a hope certainly not a
guarantee
laura goonsburg in westminster thank you
well let's look at the latest government
figures and new cases do
continue to fall there were 37 892 new
coronavirus infections recorded in the
latest 24-hour period on average
the number of new cases reported per day
in the last week is now 40
485. there were 38
676 people in hospital with coronavirus
over
the seven days to tuesday 1290 deaths
were reported that's people who died
within 28 days
of a positive covid19 test on average in
the past week
1 224 deaths were announced
every day the total number of deaths so
far across the uk is
94 580. well the uk's programme of mass
vaccinations continues to ramp up with a
new daily record for the rollout
more than 363 000 people have had their
first dose of one of the three
approved covid19 vaccines in the latest
24-hour period and it takes the overall
number
of people who've had their first jab to
very nearly
five million people well our medical
editor ferguson
is here and despite the large number of
people who have already had
their first job there is still an awful
lot of uncertainty
about what is in the months ahead that's
right sophie so
5 million protectors so far 10 million
still to go because there are 15 million
in those top four priority groups with
the target of reaching them by
mid-february now protection bills after
immunization
takes about three weeks but even then
it's not total especially after the
first dose
so given the very high rates of
coronavirus those who've been immunized
have been told to be very careful indeed
and stick to the lockdown rules for now
and it's not clear they may still be
able to pass on the virus
now there's no doubt that the lockdown
is suppressing the virus
but if the outbreak is shrinking at all
it's not happening fast enough
more and more people are out and about
than they were in the first lockdown
and we had this more contagious variant
and we see the effect on hospitals
nearly double the number of covered
patients as at the first peak in april
more icus saying they're either at
capacity or
nearly full and until those measures in
the nhs are eased considerably the
pressure there
then lockdown restrictions will remain
fergus
thank you