Thursday evening news briefing: Covid vaccine divide revealed

Thursday evening news briefing: Covid vaccine divide revealed

If you want to receive twice-daily briefings like this by email, sign up to the Front Page newsletter here. For two-minute audio updates, try The Briefing - on podcasts, smart speakers and WhatsApp.

No 10 defends vaccine rollout as London lags behind

Downing Street has defended its start to the vaccination rollout despite new data revealing London has only received a tenth of the vaccinations supplied across the country. The Midlands has administered more doses than any other area with a total of 447,329 jabs given in the region. By contrast, London has delivered just 237,524 doses. The capital's mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "hugely concerned". Read a breakdown of the Covid vaccine's regional divide and follow whether the UK is on target to end the lockdown with our vaccinations tracker. It comes as the Scottish Government has been forced to retract its Covid-19 vaccine delivery plan following a major backlash from UK ministers and manufacturers. Read why there is concern the disclosure could lead to vaccine manufacturers, such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca, facing disputes with other countries.

Meanwhile, the Government has banned international arrivals from the whole of South America, as well as Portugal, Panama and Cape Verde, over concerns about the spread of a mutant strain of coronavirus.