Boris Johnson has appealed to two million people in the top four priority groups for vaccination to volunteer for the jab this week. It was particularly important for social care workers, he said, in a hint that ministers are concerned that some of them are intentionally refusing the vaccine. The government is committed to offering 15 million people in the four groups - care home residents, frontline health and social care workers and all over-70s - a first dose of the vaccine before Monday 15 February. Speaking at a press conference at No 10, Johnson said 13 million people had already been vaccinated. But he went on: But that still leaves nearly 2 million people – a population roughly twice the size of Birmingham – that we still hope to reach. And there are people across the country who for one reason or another haven’t yet taken up their offer. So now is the moment to do it, wherever you are – you won’t be more than about 10 miles away from a vaccination centre. So, go online, or get someone to help you or simply pick up the phone and call 119. And let me appeal to the fantastic social care workers we all rely on to look after our relatives, our parents and grandparents. If you have not received a letter, please contact your employer and fix it up. Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, and Johnson both stressed the importance of adopting a cautious approach to lifting lockdown. Speaking at the news conference, Vallance said: It’s worth remembering that even with very high vaccine uptake, and it’s great to see so many people have come forward and been vaccinated, there’s still a large number of people who aren’t vaccinated. And there will be a significant number of people in high risk groups who aren’t yet vaccinated, because they either haven’t had an opportunity to, they can’t take it for some other reason or they haven’t come forward. And those people remain at risk. And so it’s important that we go cautiously in opening up in order to be able to measure the effects. And one of the things that’s really crucial in this is to get enough information to know the trajectory we’re on and not jump ahead of it, because we’ve very high levels and that could take off very quickly. So I think caution is important as we go into opening things up, and measuring is important, and data is what’s going to be important. The virus isn’t going to be particularly interested in dates. Johnson, who last year was frequently criticised for being over-optimistic about the prospects of containing Covid, also backed a cautious approach. He said that although he would like to be able to say there was evidence that the vaccination programme is already starting to have an impact, he had not seen that data yet. Johnson said people should be “a little bit more patient” with regard to planning a summer holiday. But he refused to go as far as Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, who said this morning it was wrong for people to be booking holidays now for the summer, either abroad or in the UK. Asked if he agreed with Shapps, Johnson told the press conference. I’m afraid it is just too early for people to be certain about what we will be able to do this summer. We hope to be able to say more in the week of the 22nd. I understand why people want to make plans now but we’re just going to have to be a little bit more patient. No 10 has revealed that MPs will not get a vote on the plan to threaten people with up to 10 years in jail if they lie about visiting a “red list” country with a high Covid risk, because the penalties will apply under an act that is already law. (See 2.31pm.) Two former Conservative attorneys general and backbench MPs have branded proposed sentences as disproportionate and an abuse of power. And Sir Jonathan Jones, a former head of the government legal department, said this about the plan on Twitter.
Pharmacists in England are considering strike action unless the Treasury writes off a £370m debt from a support package awarded during the pandemic, which saw many chemists help deliver vaccines. The government is facing a backlash from its own MPs after announcing a £3.5bn fund to fix dangerous cladding on high-rise buildings in England, with the offer of loans to leaseholders to fix similar problems in shorter buildings. The head of the civil service has been urged to investigate the appointment of a former Conservative MP and campaign manager for Boris Johnson as head of the Office for Students, with Labour calling the move “another example of cronyism”. As Peter Walker reports, James Wharton, who was an MP from 2010 to 2017 and is now a Conservative peer, was appointed to head the independent regulator of higher education in England despite having no experience of the sector. The government has been criticised for spending up to £600,000 defending a legal challenge against its award of a contract to a company run by long-term associates of Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings. Downing Street has defended the use of a taxpayer-funded photographer to take pictures of the prime minister’s dog, Dilyn, frolicking in the snow, saying their role is to document the work of the government. That’s all from me for today. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.