Latest updates: millions of Europeans due to get inoculated today; Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is set for approval in the UK this week
- UK scientists call for nationwide lockdown after spread of variant
- Spain, Sweden and Canada report cases of UK Covid variant
- AstraZeneca chief believes Covid vaccine will work on variant strain
- Breakthough medicines that could change the course of Covid
8.23am GMT
Cases of the new variant strain first detected in the UK have been confirmed across Europe including in France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as around the globe in Australia, Japan and Lebanon.
And Dr Barbara Yaffe, the associate chief medical officer of Canada’s Ontario province, said the first two confirmed cases were a couple from the country’s Durham region with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts.
8.20am GMT
The Czech Republic started administering vaccinations against the new coronavirus on Sunday, part of a push against the pandemic across the European Union.