Another 345 people have died with Covid, bringing the official UK death toll to 122,415.

A total of 8,523 cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours, new data from the Department of Health shows.

Meanwhile, 19,177,555 people have now received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 736,037 second doses have been given.

It comes after the news that people aged 40 to 49 will be next in line to receive the vaccine as soon as everyone over 50 has been offered it.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is recommending that age is prioritised over all over factors because it will ‘provide the greatest benefit in the shortest time’.

The news that police officers and teachers will still not be prioritised has spurred backlash today.

John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, has described the move as ‘a contemptible betrayal of police officers’.

He said: ‘Their anger is palpable, this will not be forgotten.’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is likely to be questioned on the decision as he appears at a Downing Street press conference at 5pm today.

The R rate for the UK has remained at between 0.6 and 0.9 for the second week in a row.

The growth rate last week was between -6% and -3% per day. This has changed slightly this week to between -6% and -2%, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by this much every day.

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