- The EU and the UK-based Covid vaccine maker AstraZeneca have vowed to work together to resolve a bitter row over supply shortages to the 27-member bloc
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit Scotland despite the country's first minister questioning whether the trip is necessary during lockdown
- Imperial College London scientists behind a study tracking coronavirus in England say there are signs of a "shallow decline" in infection levels but they remain high
- The number of new cars built in the UK last year fell by a third to just under 921,000, the lowest total since 1984, latest industry figures reveal
- Social workers are braced for a "tsunami of needs" as the UK recovers from the pandemic, a union has warned
- Black people in England over the age of 80 were half as likely as their white peers to have been vaccinated against Covid by 13 January, a large study suggests
- And a World Health Organization team is set to come out of quarantine for face-to-face meetings as part of their probe into the origins of the virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan
Good morning and welcome
Here’s what you need to know this morning in the UK:- Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit Scotland today despite the country's first minister questioning whether the trip is necessary during the Covid lockdown
- Under the current Covid regulations, people are only able to travel between Scotland and England for essential reasons, with similar regulations also in place to stop travel across council boundaries within Scotland
- The EU and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca have pledged to work together to resolve a row about problems with the supply of the company's Covid vaccine
- Both sides say emergency talks last night were “constructive”
- Scientists tracking coronavirus rates in England say there are signs of a "shallow decline" in infections but they are still high
- UK car production figures have tumbled to their “worst in a generation”
- Social workers are expecting a "tsunami of needs" as the UK recovers from the pandemic, a union has warned
- Black people over the age of 80 were half as likely as their white peers to have been vaccinated against Covid by 13 January, a large study based on more than 20 million patient records in England suggests
- And the BBC has spoken to people living with parosmia - a condition that distorts sense of smell, and can make everyday items smell repulsive - after Covid
The papers: 'No EU can't have our jabs' and 'schools out'
Many of today's front pages focus on the EU-AstraZeneca row.
- "Wait your turn!" is the message to Brussels from the Daily Express after the European Union attempted to, in the paper's words, "hijack" tens of millions of Covid vaccinations made in the UK.
- The Financial Times says the EU's demands to make up its shortfall in expected doses from AstraZeneca "risks unleashing an explosive post-Brexit political fight" - but Boris Johnson believes his priority deal for 100 million doses is "watertight".
- The message from Conservative MPs to the EU is equally forthright in the Daily Mail: "No, EU can't have our jabs!"
- With the vaccine row showing no sign of abating, the Times reports some of the UK's jabs could end up in other countries anyway because Britain has more than enough doses for this year. Someone described as a senior industry source says the UK has ordered 367 million vaccines, enough for five-and-a-half jabs per person. Dismissing the European Union's demands for stocks to be diverted from the UK as "political rhetoric", the same source also points out there may be a "human rights issue" in taking away vaccines from people who are due a second jab.
- "Roadmap to nowhere," is the Daily Mirror's take on Boris Johnson's announcement that England's coronavirus lockdown could begin to be eased from 8 March.
- But the Daily Telegraph says the potential date for schools to reopen is part of a wider "three-step plan" for lifting restrictions. Officials are reportedly working on the basis that non-essential shops could start trading again in April, with pubs and restaurants following in May.
- The Daily Star is sceptical. "Does Bozo ever learn?" its leader asks, calling it "foolhardy" to even set a provisional date to reopen schools.
See the front pages in full.
PM to use Covid to make UK union case [excuse] on Scotland visit
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use his trip to Scotland later to argue the Covid response shows the strengths of the UK working together.But the SNP says the prime minister is panicking as opinion polls show increasing support for independence.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is also questioning whether his trip is "essential".
Asked at her daily coronavirus briefing on Wednesday how she felt about the expected visit while strict travel restrictions were in place, Ms Sturgeon replied she was "not ecstatic" about it.
She argued leaders should abide by the same rules they impose on the general public, adding she had herself rejected a suggested visit to a vaccine centre in Aberdeen for this reason.
Downing Street, however, insists it is important for the prime minister to be "visible and accessible" across the whole of the UK during the pandemic.
Under the current Covid regulations, people are only able to travel between Scotland and England for essential reasons, with similar regulations also in place to stop travel across council boundaries within Scotland.
Read more here.
What's happened in the EU/AstraZeneca vaccine row?
The EU and the UK-based Covid vaccine maker AstraZeneca are vowing to work together to resolve a bitter row over supply shortages to the 27-member bloc.It comes after crisis talks both sides described as "constructive".
AstraZeneca earlier said it could deliver only a fraction of the doses it promised in January-March, blaming production issues at European plants.
But the EU says the firm must honour its commitments and deliver the jabs by diverting stock from the UK.
Reports said last week the EU would get 60% fewer vaccine doses - about 50 million jabs - than promised in the first quarter of the year.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, has not yet been approved by the EU, although this is expected on Friday.
The EU - which has been criticised for the slow rollout of its inoculations - is also facing delays with supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The bloc has a much bigger deal with the US-German vaccine-maker.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "I'm confident of our supplies and we'll keep rolling out vaccines as fast we possibly can. I am very pleased at the moment that we have the fastest rollout of vaccines in Europe by some way."