The government has today published figures which show the number of people who have received the vaccine between 8 December and 20 December in the UK is 616,933.

The UK government has procured doses on behalf of the entire UK. The number of people who have received their first dose of the vaccine in each of the 4 nations is:

• England: 521,594
• Scotland: 56,676
• Wales: 22,595
• Northern Ireland: 16,068

In line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), vaccines have been administered to care home residents, those aged 80 and over and health and social care staff through over 500 vaccination sites across the UK. The vaccination programme will continue at pace over Christmas.

The vaccine roll-out in care homes in England began on Wednesday 16 December, with hundreds of residents vaccinated across 7 care homes in Slough, Aintree, Herne Bay, Thanet, Chalfont St Peter, Droitwich and Cheltenham, as well as Chelsea Pensioners.

Larger care homes with 50 to 70 beds will be prioritised first, with around 2,900 care homes of this size in England.

Over the coming weeks and months, the rate of vaccination will increase as more doses become available and the programme continues to expand, with more vaccines being delivered direct to care homes.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

Thanks to a huge effort from the NHS to overcome significant logistical challenges, 616,933 people across the UK have had their jab of the coronavirus vaccine.

In just over 3 weeks, the NHS in every part of the UK has already set up hundreds of vaccination sites to ensure those most in need can receive their jab as quickly as possible.

This is just the beginning and we are continually expanding our vaccination programme to help everyone get back to normal in the future.

Figures on vaccination uptake for the UK will be published on a weekly basis from today on the PHE coronavirus data dashboard.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first vaccine to be authorised for use by the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Patients require 2 doses of the vaccine for the vaccine to be at its most effective. Thanks to the work of the government’s Vaccines Taskforce, 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been secured for the whole of the UK.

Rolling reviews on the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna and other vaccine candidates are underway and, if authorised by the MHRA, will mean there are more doses available to vaccinate those in need.

Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said:

I am extremely proud the UK is the first country in the world to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and protect the most vulnerable from this awful disease.

The NHS across the UK is working incredibly hard to scale up the vaccination programme as fast as they can to make sure everyone on the priority list can get their vaccine easily.

England

All vaccinations in England are recorded between 8 December and 20 December and represent the first doses only.

The data for England is drawn from 2 sources depending on the vaccination site:

• for hospital sites the data is reported from the National Immunisation Management Service, which is the system of record for the NHS vaccination programme
• for local vaccination services this is an initial data extract from the Pinnacle system, which is being used by GPs to record COVID-19 vaccination events. This data will also be aggregated into the National Immunisation Management Service

Northern Ireland

As the vaccination programme began on 8 December 2020, the number of individuals reported to have been vaccinated in week ending 13 December 2020 only includes data from 8 to 13 December 2020.

Scotland

Vaccinations that were carried out in Scotland are reported in the Vaccination Management Tool. As the vaccination programme began on 8 December 2020, the number of individuals reported to have been vaccinated in week ending 13 December 2020 only includes data from 8 to 13 December 2020.

Wales

Vaccinations that were carried out in Wales are reported in the Welsh Immunisation System, and are extracted each Tuesday to reflect activity up to the close of the preceding Sunday. As the vaccination programme began on 8 December 2020, the number of individuals reported to have been vaccinated in the week ending 13 December 2020 only includes data from 8 to 13 December 2020.

Prime Minister’s statement on EU negotiations: 24 December 2020

It is four and a half years since the British people voted to take back control of their money, their borders, their laws, and their waters and to leave the European Union.

And earlier this year we fulfilled that promise and we left on Jan 31 with that oven-ready deal.

Since that time we have been getting on with our agenda.

Enacting the points based immigration system that you voted for and that will come into force on Jan 1.

And doing free trade deals with 58 countries around the world.

And preparing the new relationship with the EU.

And there have been plenty of people who have told us that the challenges of the Covid pandemic have made this work impossible.

And that we should extend the transition period.

And incur yet more delay.

And I rejected that approach precisely because beating Covid is our number one national priority and I wanted to end any extra uncertainty and to give this country the best possible chance of bouncing back strongly next year.

And so I am very pleased that this afternoon that we have completed the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660 billion.

A comprehensive Canada style free trade deal between the UK and the EU, a deal that will protect jobs across this country.

A deal that will allow UK goods and components to be sold without tariffs and without quotas in the EU market.

A deal which will if anything should allow our companies and our exporters to do even more business with our European friends.

And yet which achieves something that the people of this country instinctively knew was doable.

But which they were told was impossible.

We have taken back control of laws and our destiny.

We have taken back control of every jot and tittle of our regulation.

In a way that is complete and unfettered.

From Jan 1 we are outside the customs union, and outside the single market.

British laws will be made solely by the British Parliament.

Interpreted by UK judges sitting in UK courts.

And the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice will come to an end.

We will be able to set our own standards, to innovate in the way that we want, to originate new frameworks for the sectors in which this country leads the world, from biosciences to financial services, artificial intelligence and beyond.

We will be able to decide how and where we are going to stimulate new jobs and new hope.

With freeports and new green industrial zones.

We will be able to cherish our landscape and our environment in the way we choose.

Backing our farmers and backing British food and agricultural production.

And for the first time since 1973 we will be an independent coastal state with full control of our waters with the UK’s share of fish in our waters rising substantially from roughly half today to closer to 2/3 in five and a half years’ time after which there is no theoretical limit beyond those placed by science or conservation on the quantity of our own fish that we can fish in our waters.

And to get ready for that moment those fishing communities we will be helped with a big £100m programme to modernise their fleets and the fish processing industry.

And I want to stress that although of course the arguments with our European friends and partners were sometimes fierce this is, I believe a good deal for the whole of Europe and for our friends and partners as well.

Because it will not be a bad thing for the EU to have a prosperous and dynamic and contented UK on your doorstep.

And it will be a good thing – it will drive jobs and prosperity across the whole continent.

And I don’t think it will be a bad thing if we in the UK do things differently, or a take a different approach to legislation.

Because in so many ways our basic goals are the same.

And in the context of this giant free trade zone that we’re jointly creating the stimulus of regulatory competition will I think benefit us both.

And if one side believes it is somehow being unfairly undercut by the other, then subject to independent third party arbitration and provided the measures are proportionate, we can either of us decide – as sovereign equals – to protect our consumers.

But this treaty explicitly envisages that such action should only happen infrequently and the concepts of uniformity and harmonisation are banished in favour of mutual respect and mutual recognition and free trade.

And for squaring that circle, for finding the philosopher’s stone that’s enabled us to do this I want to thank President von der Leyen of the European Commission and our brilliant negotiators led by Lord Frost and Michel Barnier, on the EU side Stephanie Rousseau as well as Oliver Lewis, Tim Barrow, Lindsay Appleby and many others.

Their work will be available for scrutiny, followed by a parliamentary vote I hope on Dec 30.

This agreement, this deal above all means certainty.

It means certainty for the aviation industry and the hauliers who have suffered so much in the Covid pandemic.

It means certainty for the police and the border forces and the security services and all those that we rely on across Europe to keep us safe.

It means certainty for our scientists who will be able to continue to work together on great collective projects.

Because although we want the UK to be a science superpower, we also want to be a collaborative science superpower.

And above all it means certainty for business from financial services to our world-leading manufacturers – our car industry – certainty for those working in high skilled jobs in firms and factories across the whole country.

Because there will be no palisade of tariffs on Jan 1.

And there will be no non-tariff barriers to trade.

And instead there will be a giant free trade zone of which we will at once be a member.

And at the same time be able to do our own free trade deals as one UK, whole and entire, England, NI, Scotland and Wales together.

And I should stress this deal was done by a huge negotiating team from every part of the UK, and it will benefit every part of our United Kingdom, helping to unite and level up across the country.

And so I say again directly to our EU friends and partners, I think this deal means a new stability and a new certainty in what has sometimes been a fractious and difficult relationship.

We will be your friend, your ally, your supporter and indeed – never let it be forgotten – your number one market.

Because although we have left the EU this country will remain culturally, emotionally, historically, strategically and geologically attached to Europe, not least through the four million EU nationals who have requested to settle in the UK over the last four years and who make an enormous contribution to our country and to our lives.

And I say to all of you at home.

At the end of this toughest of years.

That our focus in the weeks ahead is of course on defeating the pandemic.

And on beating coronavirus and rebuilding our economy.

And delivering jobs across the country.

And I am utterly confident that we can and will do it.

By today we have vaccinated almost 800,000 people and we have also today resolved a question that has bedevilled our politics for decades.

And it is up to us all together.

As a newly and truly independent nation.

To realise the immensity of this moment and to make the most of it.

Happy Christmas to you all.

That’s the good news from Brussels – now for the sprouts.

The Agreement strengthens the trading relationship between the UK and Moldova, worth £395m in 2019, by securing continued preferential access and paving the way for increased trade in future. The trading relationship grew by 77% between 2015 and 2019.

The preferential terms secured by this Agreement will enable British businesses to trade as they do today after the UK’s Transition Period with the European Union and provide certainty to consumers in both countries. Top UK imports from Moldova in 2019 include items like clothes, beverages and fruit and vegetables.

The Agreement also sets out the UK and Moldova’s ambitions for our future relationship including the strengthening of our political, economic, security and cultural ties. As part of the Agreement, the UK recognises and supports Moldova’s commitment to an ambitious programme of reforms and its political, economic and legal accomplishments.

FCDO Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas Wendy Morton said:

I welcome the signing of the UK-Moldova Strategic Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which underlines our close ties and our shared ambitions for a deeper trade, political and security relationship. This Agreement will support cooperation in protecting the environment, promoting economic and governance reforms, tackling climate change and standing up for human rights.

DIT Minister Ranil Jayawardena said:

Today’s agreement provides stability to the trade between Britain and Moldova and allows businesses to continue with confidence. It creates a firm foundation for even more trade and investment in the future too. We look forward to a continued relationship with Moldova.

Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Moldova Steven Fisher signed the agreement today (24 December) with Moldovan Foreign Minister Aureliu Ciocoi in Chisinau.

Her Majesty’s Ambassador Steven Fisher said:

I am honoured to sign this important agreement on behalf of the United Kingdom. It lays the foundation for building deeper, broader and stronger relations between our two countries in the years ahead.

The Agreement will promote innovative partnerships between the UK and Moldova, following the example of British company Terravesta and Aberystwyth University who are working with a Moldovan partner to develop a biomass solution for heating homes in Chisinau.

UK companies already established in Moldova include Jaguar Land Rover and GlaxoSmithKline. The British Embassy has supported a number of projects to promote development of the Moldovan private sector, one of which has led to British company Barbour manufacturing luxury products in Moldova. The Agreement is signed at a time when both governments are expanding their trade presence in each other’s countries.

Notes to Editors

• The United Kingdom-Republic of Moldova Strategic Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement replicates the effects of the existing EU-Moldova Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) provisions as far as possible.
• This Agreement is designed to take effect when the EU-Moldova AA and DCFTA cease to apply to the United Kingdom, following the end of the Transition Period on 31 December. The agreement will be subject to the domestic parliamentary procedures in both the United Kingdom and Moldova before it is brought into force.
• In under two years, the UK government has secured trade agreements with 61 countries. Total UK trade with these countries was worth £199 billion in 2019.
• This accounts for 97% of the value of trade with non-EU countries that we set out to secure agreements with at the start of the trade continuity programme.
• Since the Transition Period began, we have expanded the ambition of our programme above and beyond this original scope, securing agreements with Japan, Vietnam and Singapore, which together accounted for £53bn of UK trade in 2019.
• We will continue to progress in securing further deals before the end of the Transition Period.
• Source: ONS UK Trade: All countries, non-seasonally adjusted, April to June 2020