Politics

Boris Johnson has pledged that every adult in the UK should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July. The accelerated vaccine rollout would help protect the most vulnerable sooner and also enable the easing of some lockdown restrictions, the prime minister said. People aged 50 and over and those with underlying health

The prime minister is still aiming to reopen all schools in England next month despite concerns from teachers and scientists. Ahead of an announcement about easing coronavirus lockdown on Monday, Downing Street refused to be drawn on specific reports that more extensive outdoor socialising could be allowed by Easter, including suggestions that two households will

The government unlawfully failed to publish details of coronavirus-related contracts worth billions, the High Court has ruled. The Good Law Project launched a judicial review against the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over its “wholesale failure” to disclose details of the COVID-19-related contracts. Under law, the government has to publish a “contract award

Sadiq Khan has received his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine and urged members of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to follow suit, declaring: “I wouldn’t be taking the jab if I didn’t think it was safe.” The London mayor received a COVID-19 jab on Friday morning at a vaccine centre located inside

The UK will share the majority of any future surplus COVID vaccines to help developing nations, Boris Johnson will confirm – as he urges world leaders to slash the time taken to create new jabs to 100 days. The prime minister will chair a meeting of G7 leaders via videolink on Friday, during which he

Face-to-face visits in care homes could resume within weeks as England’s lockdown is eased, a minister has suggested. Care minister Helen Whately told Sky News she wants to see a return to more “normal” visits as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed. Latest coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world People would not have to

Internal plans in Whitehall suggest a rapid reopening of the economy in the weeks after pupils return to classrooms on 8 March, Sky News understands. Whitehall officials have drawn up a timetable to help work out internal plans to roll out the government’s planned mass COVID testing regime. This suggests a desire to reopen rapidly

Boris Johnson has said he will be focusing on data and not dates when it comes to the easing of England’s coronavirus lockdown. The prime minister said Professor Dame Angela McLean was “absolutely right” to tell a committee of MPs earlier that the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions should hinge upon “data, not dates”. Latest coronavirus

A phased return of pupils to classrooms in Scotland will begin on Monday, the first minister has announced. Nicola Sturgeon revealed the news in a statement to the Scottish parliament this afternoon, as she said the country’s lockdown would continue until at least the beginning of March. “The core stay at home requirement will remain

The government is battling a “tsunami of disinformation” when it comes to coronavirus jabs, the vaccines minister has told Sky News. Nadhim Zahawi said that while overall COVID-19 “vaccine positivity” was high, those who are “vaccine hesitant” tend to “skew heavily” towards black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. “There is a tsunami of disinformation,

Government scientists want to keep social distancing measures in place for the foreseeable future in a move that would hit shops, pubs, cinemas and theatres, Sky News has learnt. It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear he would not allow the coronavirus to let rip through younger generations, suggesting he has embraced the

Boris Johnson has said his plan for lifting England’s coronavirus lockdown is for there to be “cautious but irreversible” progress in easing restrictions. “We’ve got to be very prudent and what we want to see is progress that is cautious but irreversible,” the prime minister said on his plan for easing COVID-19 measures. “I think

The first rule of world-beating vaccine club is you don’t talk about world-beating vaccine club. A weird one, especially when the first rule of world-beating coronavirus test and trace club seemed to be that you talk about little else. Even when the reality is clearly not living up to the description. So what’s going on?

The government will not be setting an “arbitrary target” for when lockdown can be lifted despite pressure from some MPs to scrap all restrictions by the end of April, the foreign secretary has told Sky News. Dominic Raab said the plan was to “ease the lockdown” with the return of schools, which Prime Minister Boris

Boris Johnson has said he is “optimistic” ahead of his “roadmap” for easing England’s lockdown – and hinted at which industries will reopen first. The prime minister said his plan, which will be unveiled on 22 February, will prioritise the reopening of schools from 8 March. He added that non-essential retail will follow, then hospitality

Anyone eligible for a vaccine who has not yet had a jab is being urged to come forward – with Britons in top priority groups being told it isn’t too late to receive one. The government and the NHS have launched a new vaccine uptake plan that’s designed to reach vulnerable and underserved groups, and