Prime Minister Boris Johnson and health bosses will be quizzed on the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine after warnings to abide by lockdown restrictions were stepped up to ease pressure on the NHS.
Mr Johnson will be questioned by senior MPs after facing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during PMQs on Wednesday.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi and health bosses crucial to the jabs programme will also be grilled by the Commons science and technology committee.
With the vaccine key to easing lockdowns, latest NHS figures showed 2,431,648 in the UK have received a first dose. But the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital in England was measured at a record 32,202 as of 8am on Tuesday – up 22 per cent on a week ago, and 82 per cent since Christmas Day.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 99,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
Hospital patients are to be discharged early from one hospital to free beds for critically-ill Covid-19 patients.
The owners of the Best Western chain, the London Hotel Group (LHG), will accommodate patients deemed ready to leave King’s College Hospital.
A hospital spokesman said: “To create capacity in the hospital to care for the high number of patients requiring admission, we have partnered with a local hotel to temporarily accommodate mainly homeless patients who are ready to safely leave hospital and will benefit from further support from community partners.”
Amid concerns the current restrictions in England may not be tough enough, Home Secretary Priti Patel said a minority of the public are “putting the health of the nation at risk” as she backed a tougher police approach to lockdown rules.
Chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Martin Hewitt said that more officers will be out on dedicated patrols to deal with rule breakers, while leaders of police groups have also called on the Government to clarify the “incredibly vague” rules.
