The vaccines minister added they would not be looking to ease lockdown restrictions if they weren't confident the jabs were driving down hospitalisations and deaths from the disease.

Today, Boris Johnson will take the first step on a 'cautious - but irreversible' journey towards bringing the country out of lockdown as he sets out his roadmap for the next few months.

Howden Junior School, in East Yorkshire, announced the four new names this week which also include activist Malala Yousafzai and Amanda Gorman after an ex-student wrote an email to the headteacher.

Boris Johnson is set to reveal his 'roadmap' in a statement to the Commons this afternoon after it is rubber-stamped by Cabinet.

A to-be-published World Health Organisation report will recommend contact tracing Wuhan's 'patient zero' as well as wet market's supply chain to search for the origins of Covid-19 in China.

When on a winning streak, you should make the most of it. And the British Government has hit the jackpot (again) with its Covid vaccination policy.

Conditions are likely to remain dry and sunny for most of the week in the South and East after rain fizzles out this morning, with the warmest temperatures expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

Outside of training and competing, a mandatory 10-day quarantine will now be required for all overseas trips for club or international football, complicating the calendar for teams active in Europe.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) along with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service were called to the Hopewell Crescent area of Belfast last night after the man was shot.

A tricky new quiz by Tal Garner has been shared on US-trivia site Playbuzz. The challenge puts the internet's knowledge of the natural world to the test with 10 multiple choice questions.

A source close to Mr Dowden (pictured) said he saw Facebook blocking news groups' pages in Australia as a 'worrying development', and Matt Hancock also hinted he backed making sites pay.

Carrie Symonds is 'undermining democracy' according to former colleague. He worries UK policy is being influenced by the Prime Minister's lover.

Oxford undergraduates at an event called It's About Race have been told that not being racist 'isn't good enough'. Critics have claimed such similar training does not work.

Mourners, including senior UK diplomats, were stunned to hear Taila-Jordan McKenzie claim that her mother had been shabbily treated by her employer and pleas to baroness Scotland were ignored.

Police confirmed the deaths of a woman, 28, man, 29, and a girl, four, who is believed to be their daughter, after a house fire at the property in Clayton Road in the St David's area of Exeter, Devon.

The 'mini exam' papers would be marked by teachers in England and would be used to help them to inform a student's grade, according to the Times .

Crowds of people broke lockdown rules and flocked to tourist spots across the UK yesterday as they enjoyed sunning themselves during the hottest day of 2021 so far as temperatures hit 60F.

These shocking images illustrate how the elderly - torn apart from their loved ones by visiting bans - have suffered dramatic declines in their mental and physical health.

Dr Max Pemberton, 40, said he was surprised how emotional getting the Covid-19 vaccine was. But he admitted his guilt after realising his mother, in her 70s, has not yet been vaccinated.

Georgina Aldridge, 44, ran off with the father to her grandchildren Ryan Shelton, 29, two days after her daughter gave birth to his son. The pair are now staying 30 miles away at Georgina's sister's home.

Retailer Ann Summers said sales of the quietest vibrator, the Whisper Rabbit, are up by 60 per cent compared with a year ago.

Professor John Edmunds has said until 'everyone' including children is vaccinated, resurgence is a real risk and that there is 'an argument' for turning to children as fast as we can in the vaccine rollout.

Campaign group launched a High Court challenge against Office for National Statistics (ONS) for letting respondents to the Census choose the sex that appears on legal documents.

Charles and Doris Clark are furious about their flowerbeds, among other things. The plants in them, so lovingly tended by 81-year-old Doris, were, she says, 'pulled up and just plonked back in willy-nilly'.

Transforming a horsebox into a modern home could be described as, well, a foal's errand. But once this couple got the bit between their teeth there was no stopping them.

Hugh Bonneville has urged caution over so-called cancel culture, saying it is possible to respect someone's work without condoning their offensive views or actions.

ANDREW PIERCE: As turf wars rage among the staff at No. 10, a battle- weary Boris Johnson has sued for peace with one of Parliament's most senior MPs.

Cyber criminals have started to steal small amounts of money, making them harder to detect. A think tank says the problem has reached 'epidemic levels' in the UK.

Hundreds of thousands of men could be spared unnecessary worry after prostate cancer treatment thanks to a 30-second health questionnaire about treatment, diagnosis and general health.

Last year ministers pledged £2billion in Green Homes Grant money, offering homeowners up to £5,000 to make their properties more energy efficient.

The Government is said to be considering a number of options as part of its catch-up plans for youngsters who have missed out.

Travellers, motorists and families have been waiting months for important documents and appointments as many public officials continue to work from home.

Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders of flats entitled to help from the Government's cladding fund face missing out because of a 'fundamental flaw' in the scheme.

Killers who stabbed a man to death just hours after posting videos of drug-taking and a knife on Snapchat have been jailed for life. The gang must serve a minimum of nearly 100 years behind bars.

Dr Simon Olpin, 69, has turned the garden at his home in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, into a jungle with more than 100 species of plants and 100ft palm trees.

Tory MPs lined up with business leaders last night to urge Boris Johnson to 'be bold' and accelerate the lifting of all lockdown restrictions.

Historian Lucy Worsley has set out to discover if Britons really did come together with resilience and good humour during the darkest days of the Second World War.

The mass search operation for Miss Dingley, 37, who vanished on a solo trek of the Pic de Sauvegarde mountain in the Pyrenees in November, has been unsuccessful so far.

RANALD MACDONALD: Britain has one of the greatest restaurant scenes in the world. It makes this country a uniquely exciting place to live and do business.

Two boys, 15, have been charged with stealing a car and kidnap as the owner's sons, aged two and four, were still inside. West Midlands Police detained suspects 15 minutes after the alarm was raised.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a warning over the consumption of two products from SFC chicken and Vestey Foods' Chick Inn nuggets.

More than 250 old coal tips in South Wales could pose a danger to life with fears of an Aberfan-style disaster. An emergency summit has been called by the Welsh government.

NHS carer Vanessa Rochester, 32, and her family are the sole occupants of an otherwise uninhabited Scottish island cut off from the mainland by a raging tidal channel.

ANDREW PIERCE: At this time of national crisis it is surely more vital than ever that the UK Government operates with determination and unity.

Four generals have issued an unprecedented plea to Boris Johnson to withdraw plans to axe 10,000 soldiers from the Army.

Incompetent social workers exposed a little girl to danger from her murderous father with cannibal fantasies, a High Court judge has revealed.

The latest house improvement must-have is a health and fitness club at home. Catherine Pearson, 46, from Hartford, spent £13k of cancelled holiday cash on gym.

During a fight on Leith Walk in Edinburgh, Bethaney Ryan, 27, responded by kissing James McKenzie and then biting his tongue off, which was then eaten by a gull.

Her Majesty is keen to wipe the slate clean following Harry and Meghan's departure from the royal family and considers the saga finished with, sources told the Mirror.

Holly Kobayashi, then 36, showed her midwife the unexplained bruise on her son's arm and within two hours the pair were escorted to Northumbria hospital and the police were called.

John Lewis could shut a fifth of its 42 remaining stores, as negotiations with landlords are said to be ongoing and hundreds of jobs are reportedly at risk. In an effort to save £300m per year.

The 90-minute programme, which will air immediately after CBS's flagship 60 Minutes show on March 7, is the couple's chance 'to woo and win over Americans'.

HUGO VICKERS: Few could doubt the anger and frustration felt by the Duke of Sussex as he lost his Royal patronages this week.

Her Majesty was 'blindsided' last week when it emerged that the Duchess of Sussex and her husband had agreed to talk to the American chat show host.

SARAH VINE: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are two people who never seem to tire of reminding us how warm and caring they are.

Ministers are said to be discussing measures to restrict the importation of European mineral water and seed potatoes as the UK looks set to end a number of continuity arrangements.

The chat show host prepared for the interview at her home in Hawaii before flying into California, where she also owns a property a short drive from the couple, on her £50million private jet.

Grant Shapps has shelved a European Court of Justice rule which would have required mobility scooters to be insured as part of a Brexit dividend.

Neil Woodford from Devon made his name by returning profits when others lost their shirts in the dotcom crash of 2000, repeating the trick in the 2008 financial crisis.

Tiina Jauhiainen pleads with the Queen of England to use 'whatever influence' she has with her long-term horse-racing friend Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum.

PETER HITCHENS: My great sin was to suggest that the Britain of my youth had been much more free than it is now. Oh, yes, they sneered, free for people like you - white, heterosexual males.

TOM TUGENDHAT: How do you 'unfriend' a whole country? The giant Facebook conglomerate has found the answer.

NIGEL FARAGE: The world is being taken over by stealth by the Chinese Communist Party. Under a neo-colonial project, President Xi Jinping hopes to achieve global economic domination.

Shehroz Mukhtiar (pictured) is among those using dormant firms as a front under the Government's Bounce Back Loan Scheme. It is feared the fraud could cost UK taxpayers billions.

To report an inaccuracy, please email corrections @mailonline.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonline .co.uk/readerseditor.

Olivia, Edison and Colette Nguyen and their grandmother Le Loan, 75, died in the early hours of Tuesday (February 16) morning at their Sugar Land home in during the Texas blackouts.

The Wollman Rink and Lasker Rink will not be closed after all, with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio suddenly folding to pressure to keep the ice rinks open.

The lab-confirmed case announced by Andrew Cuomo (pictured) comes a week after the strain was first detected in the state, in a Connecticut resident who was hospitalized in New York City.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Merelize Van Der Merwe, 32, from South Africa's Limpopo province, shot and killed a 17-year-old male giraffe on February 13 before posing with its heart.

The disgruntled student, Jón Jörund, had been taking part in Icelandic TV show Gettu Betur - which translates to Make a Better Guess. But he was quick to show his disapproval when his team lost.

Alexandra Green, 27, was found dead by her boyfriend Damian Smith hours kicking him out of her home in Chester city centre having spent the night drinking and taking cocaine.

Pubs must be open by Easter, Tory MPs demanded today ahead of Boris Johnson's announcement of plans to unchain the UK from coronavirus lockdown.

The Yodok camp housed thousands of so-called enemies of the state who were forced to carry out slave labour seven days a week and were regularly beaten and tortured.

Europe's largest volcano has erupted for the fourth time in as many days. Dramatic pictures show Mount Etna spewing lava and ash into the skies above Sicily, Italy, overnight on Sunday.

The PM - wearing a jumper, Adidas shorts and his favourite red beanie hat embossed with a Welsh flag - was seen puffing his way around St James's Park followed by two protection officers.

The heir-to-the-throne's surprise visit to Prince Philip's bedside is likely to have touched on the 'momentous' events since he was admitted to the King Edward VII's hospital in Marylebone on Tuesday.

Mia Farrow (right), 76, learned then-boyfriend, Woody Allen, 85, had affair with her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn (top left). HBO series looks at sex abuse allegations made by Dylan Farrow (bottom left).

Olivia, Edison and Colette Nguyen and their grandmother Le Loan died Tuesday. Their aunt, Vanessa Kon, said: 'If the power wasn't off, this wouldn't have happened.'

Debris from a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane rained down on the Dutch town of Meerssen on Sunday when one of its engines burst into flames moments after takeoff at Maastricht airport.

The former South Sydney Rabbitohs captain was charged on Monday afternoon with driving an unregistered car in Braemar in the Southern Highlands.

Latia Henderson, 18, broke down after being refused bail in Campbelltown Local on Monday, where it was revealed the teenager is 14 weeks pregnant.

Houses near the city are set to get bigger as Covid changes to work culture see more Australians embrace the outer suburbs, a government report predicted.

The Westpac bank is predicting Australian property prices will rise by 20 per cent during the next two years with double-digit rises forecast for both 2021 and 2022.

Senior cabinet ministers have hinted Australians will be banned from travelling overseas for a holiday, even as the rollout of the Covid vaccine reduced case numbers and health risks.

Thomas Lear was just 17 when he had a 'lightbulb moment' and decided to build his own home from scratch in his parents garden in Bristol to have his own space.

Facebook was about to ban conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and links from his Infowars website in April 2019 but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not consider Jones to be a 'hate figure' at the time.

It is a heartwarming photo of a little girl blowing bubbles with her brothers and sisters on a riverbed - but the story behind the image is breaking hearts around the world.

Surge testing comprises of increased testing (including door-to-door testing in some areas) and enhanced contact tracing in specific locations across England.

Two-year-old Maddilyn-Rose Stokes would have screamed in agony as she was held under burning water by her father on May 20, 2017, the court was told.

A driver has been left heartbroken after his Ford Falcon slips off the Botany Bay boat ramp twice in one afternoon, after the rope attaching the Falcon to a Ute snapped, as driver looks on helplessly.

Melissa Caddick's own parents and older brother may be among the victims of her alleged financial trickery - as her 'toy boy' lover's $1,700 a week allowance is cut off.

Ciara Nolan and Jean-Francois Bonnet found eight-year-old golden retriever Neesha near a summit in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland, on February 6.

Tanya Bechara has been spared a conviction, after leaving one patient with blue marks under her eyes during the botched November 2018 procedure in Melbourne.

From Monday an additional 700 businesses in Bega Valley, the northern beaches and Sydney CBD will take part in the second pilot of Dine & Discover NSW.

United Airlines said late Sunday it will immediately halt all flights by its fleet of 24 Boeing 777 airplanes with the same type of engine involved in Saturday's emergency landing in Denver.

Brandon Schrader, from Canberra, was crossing the road on his lunch break in April last year when he started stuttering and lost control of his hand movements.

Video footage shared to Facebook on Sunday showed a Victoria Police Highway Patrol car drive towards a motorcyclist and dozens of young men standing in the middle of the road.

The Health Secretary revealed that one-in-three people over 16 had now been given on of the life-saving jabs, a boost to the country ahead of Boris Johnson's roadmap launch tomorrow.

The US stood Sunday at the brink of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths as Dr Anthony Fauci warned that Americans could be wearing masks into 2022 despite the fall in infections.

Betty Klimenko said she now has an 'acre of land' after snapping up the pieces of prime real estate at Vaucluse, in the eastern suburbs.

Two male cleaners mistakenly entered through a back door of the Pullman Hotel on February 6.

The Victorian government will launch a royal commission into Crown Resorts, to test the suitability of gambling giant to hold its Melbourne casino licence. 

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made a donation to the Genesis Women's Shelter & Support in Texas that was impacted by Winter Storm Uri earlier this month.

The red-browed finch was found hanging upside down from the sticky spider's web in a backyard in Johns River, in New South Wales.

Tom Trbojevic was on Monday ruled out for the first three rounds of the NRL season, in what shapes as another bitter blow for Manly and the Sea Eagles superstar.

Joshua Jamal Williams, 27, reportedly walked into Jefferson Gun Outlet in Metairie with his brother yesterday at around 3pm, carrying a pistol with an extended magazine unholstered.

As Facebook ruthlessly blocks Australians from accessing news, YouTube star Jordan Shanks says it's a 'golden opportunity' for his followers to control the narrative on the platform.

Coast Guard and fire department personnel rescued 10 people who were stranded on ice floes in Lake Erie in Cleveland. The seven adults and three children became stranded mid-afternoon.

Unveiling his long-awaited roadmap today, the Prime Minister will announce on March 8, children will be welcome back to school and meeting outdoors between two friends can go ahead.

At least two Jewish organizations are demanding an apology from Michael Che after a joke he made on Saturday Night live this weekend.

Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that the US will likely 'continue to see infection rates decline into the spring and the summer.' Gottlieb said he believed vaccines could be adjusted for new strains

Thousands of Australian frontline workers will roll their sleeves up on Monday as the Pfizer vaccine is rolled out nationwide following Sunday's 'curtain-raiser' jabs in Sydney.

Trump-loving Miami anesthesiologist, Dr Jennifer Susan Wright, 58, (left) has been charged with a hate crime after Hispanic man, punching him and vandalizing his vehicle, according to local police.

Mr Ibrahim, a well known Sydney identity, considers 63-year-old Semi 'Tongan Sam' Ngata a 'brother', despite reportedly no longer working together.

Controversial NRL star Latrell Mitchell, 23, confirmed on Monday morning he will be staying at the South Sydney Rabbitohs until at least the end of 2023.

Angry protesters holding signs reading 'Cancun Cruz must resign' and 'Cruz's lies cost lives' descended on the senator's $2million Houston home on Sunday.

An Alice Springs tradie has shared a horrifying photo of a pregnant huntsman spider. Joel Hogan was working on a set of traffic lights when he stumbled across the gigantic spider.

New child abuse and sex crimes squad boss Stacey Maloney said New South Wales has to change its definition of consent because only three per cent of rapists are convicted.

Redcliffe High School in Brisbane's north-east has introduced what they call 'pronoun badges' as part of a trial to promote gender inclusion among its transgender and non-binary students.

Media and tennis fans flocked to Melbourne's Brighton Beach on Monday morning for the traditional post-tournament media opportunity with the Australian Open men's champion.

Brian Bowen Smith is renowned for his celebrity portraits, having snapped stunning images of Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford and Demi Moore in a career spanning more than two decades.

Dale Best from the Maroochydore Swans collapsed while playing the Kawana Dolphins on Queensland's Sunshine Coast on Saturday afternoon.

A woman allegedly held captive as a slave for eight years by a couple claims she was cruelly beaten with frozen chickens in front of her captors' own children. 

A panhandler injured a two-year-old boy on the subway in New York City on Saturday after punching him, the latest violent incident plaguing the transit system.

Ms Higgins went public last week with the allegation she was raped by a male colleague inside Defence Minister Linda Reynolds' office in 2019.

New York's fight against COVID-19 saw a hopeful development Sunday, as the state's positive infection rate reached an almost three-month low, though the South Africa variant lurks.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is under pressure to make sure Google doesn't wriggle out of a proposed law regulating big tech, leaving small publishers empty handed.

The White House chief medical adviser said Sunday: 'The number was 6 million doses got delayed.' Bad weather in the south and north east earlier this week snarled vaccine deliveries.

The family of Cristian Pavon Pineda, the 11-year-old Texas child who died during freezing weather, are to sue. The boy was found dead in his bed in family's mobile home in Conroe, Texas.

The man from Mackay in the state's north held the only division one winning entry in Powerball draw 1292 on Thursday, but took days to track down until he heard about the draw and check his ticket.

They lived the most lavish of lives together but the rivers of gold have finally run dry for Melissa Caddick's unemployed hairdresser, DJ and prawn farmer husband Anthony Koletti.

Jake Bilsborow, who nominated for the AFL draft, knocked off early on Wednesday and headed to a popular waterhole at Bridgewater in Adelaide Hills to cool off with some friends.

Detroit police said Marcus Brown (inset) is the man seen in the red hooded sweatshirt on the left as he stole a gun from a shopper at a BP gas station on West Seven Mile Road on January 28.

State Senator Leroy Comrie (left) of Queens is demanding hearings into COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes in New York State as Governor Andrew Cuomo (right) comes under pressure.

Last Thursday the social media giant blocked Australian users from seeing and sharing local news in response to a new law to make tech giants pay media companies for content they use.

Investigators hope to determine if Alex Jones, left, and Roger Stone, right, could face criminal charges for influencing those we breached the Capitol on January 6.

Christina Engelhardt was only 16 when she first met Woody Allen in a New York restaurant. At the time, she was a blonde high school student with green eyes.

Daniel Keighran, who received the Victoria Cross after serving in the Middle East, popped the question to Casey Nixon at the Magic Millions Raceday, on the Gold Coast, in January.

Pupils in Year 1 aged as old as six are turning up to school without basic toileting schools as well as children in pre-school, according to education bosses in Western Australia.

Yan Hidya captured the incredible moment a tree frog hopped onto the back of a tortoise for an easy ride in Padang, West Sumatra. The 35-year-old managed to get within nine feet of the spectacle

Summer is far from over as large swathes of Western Australia and Queensland are blasted with 40C-plus temperatures, up to 10c above the monthly average.

The charity set up by the Daily Mail announced its three-pronged action plan last week after raising more than £10.7million in cash and computers to help disadvantaged lockdown pupils.

The elderly woman was at the Pimpama Tavern on the Gold Coast about 8.30pm on January 19 when the thong-wearing man allegedly swiped her bag from one of the pub's outside tables.

Novak Djokovic came under scrutiny at the Australian Open when he claimed to suffer pain in his side as he laboured to a third-round victory over Taylor Fritz - and never fully recovered.

About 24 kangaroos were seen spread out on the oval in Halls Gap, in western Victoria, on Friday as the local side clashed with a challenger,, looked like they wanted a call-up to help field.

Emotional tributes have flooded social media for a 17-year-old budding baseball star, who was killed in a horror two-vehicle collision on an intersection in Bahrs Scrub, Queensland.

Residents are heading to court to stop the palatial home on Monaco Street in Broadbeach, which is already dotted with million-dollar properties, because they think it is too big and will ruin the street.

A new playground being built for visitors at the Queen's Sandringham estate was inspired by Kate Middleton's garden at the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show.

Dominic Raab will today call on the United Nations to confront the military coup in Myanmar after more protesters were shot dead.

The 75-year-old was camping at East Arm Boat Ramp in the Northern Territory about 11.30pm on Friday when she allegedly threatened the group with a gun.