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Ukraine Oxford coronavirus vaccine rolled out to GPs as race to protect population accelerates
The mass vaccinate drive will take a considerable step forward as the NHS in England said the jab would be rolled out from GP surgeries from Thursday.
The development comes after the UK reported a further 1,041 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday - the highest daily reported total since April 21.
Record numbers are also currently in hospital with coronavirus, with a further 3,500 admitted in England on Monday January 4.
A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" is seen on an underground station platform
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Customers wearing face masks shop at the pork counter of a supermarket following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province
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Westminster Bridge is deserted in London the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK in lockdown
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Canadian passengers Chris & Anna Joiner ask for help onboard the MS Zaandam, Holland America Line cruise ship, during the coronavirus outbreak, off the shores of Panama City
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A man crosses a nearly empty 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City
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The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues
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Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown
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Commuters cope with Coronavirus
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Milan's Piazza del Duomo empty
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People in protective clothing walk past rows of beds at a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for COVID-19 coronavirus patients set up by the Iranian army at the international exhibition center in northern Tehran, Iran
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Martina Papponetti, 25, an ICU nurse at the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo, Italy poses for a portrait at the end of her shift
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Pope Francis celebrating a daily mass alone in the Santa Marta chapel at the Vatican, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19
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Vysheyshaya Liga - FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino v FC Belshina Bobruisk - Torpedo Stadium, Zhodino, Belarus, March 27, 2020 Players in action during the match despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues
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Hanks and Wilson both have coronavirus
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General view of an emergency makeshift field hospital as it is set up at Pacaembu Stadium for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients with a capacity of 200 beds in Sao Paulo, Brazil
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People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on people to stay away from pubs, clubs and theatres, work from home if possible and avoid all non-essential contacts and travel in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic
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Naomi Campbell catches a flight in a hazmat suit with goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves
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Sophie and Emily Ward pose for a photograph with their hand-drawn picture of rainbows and a message on their window in St Helens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues
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Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Corona virus outbreak.
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Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon, south London, on the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close
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Charing Cross Tube Bakerloo Line very quiet at 8.15am
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A woman with a plastic box over her head on the London Underground.
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A Racegoer attend Cheltenham Festival on Ladies Day wearing a fashionable face mask
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a laboratory at the Public Health England National Infection Service in Colindale
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A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria
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A couple kiss in Milano Centrale railway station in Milan on March 8, 2020
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A combination picture shows visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) looking at blooming cherry blossom nd a pigeon walking at an closed cherry blossom viewing spot during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (not pictured) urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors, in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from spreading
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This combination photo created on March 5, 2020 shows tourists visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province on March 16, 2019 (top) and on March 5, 2020
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
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U.S. President Donald Trump looks at the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence stand by during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House
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A satellite image shows an empty South Beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Miami,
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General view inside the empty stadium as the two teams line up prior to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund at Parc des Princes
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A Sainsbury's supermarket in Cambridge is among those to sell out of antibacterial hand sanitizer
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Tents and ambulances are set up next to the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise as it sits docked in the Port of Oakland on March 09, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Princess Cruises Grand Princess has been held from docking until today as at least 21 people on board have tested positive for COVID-19 also known as the Coronavirus
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Medical staff produce traditional Chinese medicine to treat patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan
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Army soldiers wearing protective suits spray disinfectant as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, South Korea
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Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing protective gear walks at a hospital for patients infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the outskirts of Moscow
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A woman who has recovered from the COVID-19 is disinfected by volunteers as she arrives at a hotel for a 14-day quarantine
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Passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship are seen as the ship arrives at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with coronavirus
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Dave Abel pictured in hospital in Japan
Manchester United fans in the stands during the Premier League match at Old Trafford
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Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife
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Carnival revellers wear protective face masks at Venice Carnival
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A general view is pictured of Burbage Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire after the closure of the school as a pupil's parent has tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19
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People wearing face masks walk past the Olympic rings in front of the new National Stadium, the main stadium for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Game
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People leave Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes where Coronavirus evacuees are due to be released from quarantine today and allowed to go home
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Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside
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A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg
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A general view of Worthing Hospital in West Sussex
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Passengers relax on board the Holland America-operated Westerdam cruise ship, which has been denied permission to dock in Thailand over coronavirus fears
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A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong
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A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020
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The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy
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A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan
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A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China
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The view of the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center
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A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
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Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
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French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China
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Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China
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A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
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Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo
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Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok
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Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy
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People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
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Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a woman’s temperature on the underground in Beijing
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An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city
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Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
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Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
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Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
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Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
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A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
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An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
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A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
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Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
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The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
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Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
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Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV
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Boris Johnson, who was given the overwhelming backing of MPs for the latest lockdown, warned that there was now a race between the spread of the virus and the delivery of vaccines to the most vulnerable.
The House of Commons, recalled from its Christmas break to vote on the lockdown restrictions on Wednesday, voted with a 508 majority for the measures, which could be in place until the end of March.
"After the marathon of last year we are indeed now in a sprint, a race to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them," the Prime Minister told MPs.
"Every needle in every arm makes a difference."
Will vaccines provide the way out of lockdown?
It is hoped that more than 700 sites will be delivering vaccines by the end of the week, with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine easier to administer given it can be stored at fridge temperatures, unlike the Pfizer jab which requires storage at minus 70C.
Seven mass vaccination centres will open next week in London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Surrey and Stevenage.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi admitted the target of vaccinating around 14 million people in the highest priority groups - including the elderly, those with clinical needs, care home residents and staff as well as frontline NHS workers - by February 15 was "stretching".
Some 1.3 million people have already received either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the bid to increase the speed of inoculations will see the approval period needed for Covid vaccine batches slashed from 20 days to just four.
The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the body responsible for the checks, is also set to increase staffing in a bid to accelerate the programme, the paper reported.
Ministers have already decided, in a move queried by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to administer the first jab to as many priority patients as possible by delaying a second shot.
The second jab will be given 12 weeks later to prevent current supplies from being held back. In the clinical trials, vaccine recipients received a follow-up shot within three weeks.
Mr Johnson was given approval for the latest lockdown in the Commons but faced rebellion within his ranks, with 12 Conservative MPs voting against the stay-at-home rules. They were joined by four DUP MPs opposing the regulations.
In the face of pressure from senior Tories to commit to easing the restrictions - which came into force on Wednesday and were being voted on retrospectively by MPs - as soon as possible, Mr Johnson said there would be "substantial opportunities" for relaxation before March.
Mark Harper, ex-government chief whip and chairman of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, said the restrictions should be reviewed "in the middle of February" once the most vulnerable had been vaccinated, as per the Government's aim.
The result came as Government data confirmed that the Covid death toll had once again reached levels not seen since the peak of the first wave in 2020.
The figures, however, continue to be affected by a lag in the publication of recent data and contain some deaths that took place over the Christmas and New Year period that have only just been reported.
Of the 1,041 new deaths, around a third took place before January 1, while some 100 took place in the seven days up to Christmas Day.
After the latest mortality figures were released, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said ministers had to shoulder some of the blame.
"This is a tragedy. It's not bad luck. It was not inevitable," he tweeted.
"The Government has been too slow to react. We now need a national effort to get our country vaccinated."
