Covid news - Hancock predicts ‘happy and free’ summer as UK sees record day for vaccinations

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis on Sunday thronged the funeral of a prominent rabbi in Jerusalem, flouting the country's ban on large public gatherings during the pandemic.

The funeral procession for Rabbi Meshulam Soloveitchik, who died at age 99, wended its way through the streets of Jerusalem in the latest display of ultra-Orthodox Israelis' refusal to honour coronavirus restrictions.

Perth, the capital of Western Australia, has been sent into a 5-day lockdown after a security guard tests positive for Covid-19.  

The state has been free of cases for ten months, but this new addition has been responded to swiftly to avoid a potential spread. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 31,123,299 doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of Sunday morning.

A total of 25,201,143 people had received one or more doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, the agency added.

Here’s a chart of the number of vaccinations per 100 people showing the leading three nations plus the EU and US.

Boris Johnson has said he wants Europe and the rest of the world to receive vaccinations "at the same time" as the UK, saying "there's no point one country on its own getting vaccinated".

In a People's PMQs filmed on Sunday, the Prime Minister said: "Britain, the UK, we can't think of this just as a project for us and us alone.

"The most important thing about the Oxford vaccine is it obviously can be distributed at room temperature, which is great, but it's also being distributed at cost around the world.

"We want to make sure as many people across the whole of the world, across Europe, across the whole world, get access to vaccines and we're massively funding, the UK has put hundreds of millions into the international vaccine alliance, into Covax.

"We want everybody in our country to get vaccinated at the same time as the vaccination of everybody in the world, because that is ultimately the only way to fix this.

"There's no point one country on its own getting vaccinated."

Boris Johnson has said he is "very confident" in the security of the UK's supply of coronavirus vaccines regardless of "the toings and froings" in the European Union.

The prime minister said we "will continue to take steps to protect" the deliveries in his first public comments since Brussels briefly overrode a part of the Brexit deal on Northern Ireland to impose export controls on jabs.

In a video from No 10 filmed on Sunday, Mr Johnson assured a member of the public who raised concerns over whether she will get her follow-up shot of the Belgian-made Pfizer vaccine that "we're very confident that we will be able to give you your second dose".

"You will have seen all this stuff in the papers about our friends across the Channel and disputes with them," the Prime Minister added.

"All I would say is whatever the toings and froings there, we're very confident in our security of supply.

"We will continue to take steps to protect the UK's security of supply and also to ensure that we ramp up our own manufacturing."

Anti-vaccine leaflets with “hideous holocaust imagery” have been delivered to homes in south London.

The Labour MP for Bermondsey and Southwark, Neil Coyle, said he had asked the police to investigate and take action “against these disgusting, dangerous cranks”.

Tourists have been jetting into the tropical idyll where the BBC hit ‘Death in Paradise’ is filmed.

 But the good times are about to end, Rory Mulholland reports from Guadeloupe.

Police have arrested seven people after a large group of youths gathered to throw eggs at cars in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

Inspector Kio Bozorgi said: “This is incredibly reckless behaviour given the current climate and we will be taking robust action against those who have chosen to selfishly disregard the COVID-19 guidance. The instructions could not be any clearer – stay at home to save lives and protect the NHS.

“A number of those arrested are under 18 and so I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents to ensure their children are following the rules.”

The former secretary general of the European Commission has risked another row by saying the EU has vaccinated more than the whole of Africa.

Martin Selmayr, now EU representative in Austria, tweeted: “To put it in context, thanks to the joint work of 27 governments, researchers + companies, the EU has vaccinated 12 million people in 3 weeks. 128 countries have not yet started vaccination, e.g. Japan, South Africa. Only 20,000 people have been vaccinated in Africa so far.”

It contrasts with recent comments by European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen, who told German TV: “I think the only race we are in is with the virus and against time.”

A spokesman for Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family has told the BBC that the veteran had not yet received a Covid-19 vaccine because of the medication he has been taking for pneumonia.

Sir Tom was admitted to hospital earlier today because he needed extra help with his breathing but is not in intensive care.