The Papers: Covid ‘jab joy’ and public sector pay ‘blow’

image captionThe Daily Telegraph leads on comments from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that the armed forces must recruit “specialists” in fields such as cyber technology if they are to win future wars. Elsewhere, it reports that dozens of mass vaccination centres will be set up and thousands of healthcare staff recruited to immunise people against coronavirus – with the first location confirmed as Derby from mid-December.

image captionThe i says the UK is preparing to carry out the first vaccinations against Covid-19 in the next two weeks – as Pfizer seeks clearance for a roll-out of its vaccine. The health secretary is expected to outline plans on Friday, the newspaper adds.

image captionThe Sun says up to one million people a day are to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in a “record-breaking push to beat the virus”. The NHS is expected to recruit more than 40,000 extra workers, it reports, with Pfizer expecting approval for its vaccine “within days”.

image caption“New jab joy,” is the Daily Star’s headline. The newspaper says a third Covid-19 vaccine – developed in the UK – is safe and especially effective on the over 65s.

image captionThe Daily Express says 40 mass vaccination centres will be set up across England. It quotes Downing Street sources as saying the prime minister is fighting for “everyone to have as normal a Christmas as possible”. Like many of Friday’s papers, it features a photograph of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh reading cards marking their 73rd wedding anniversary.

image captionThe Daily Mail reports that millions of public sector workers face a pay squeeze to help pay for the pandemic. The newspaper says Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to unveil a cap on wage increases set at or below inflation in next week’s spending review. Teachers, police and civil servant are among those who will be affected, the Mail reports, with only nurses and doctors exempt.

image captionThe Guardian leads with the same story, calling it a “new spending row” as the chancellor “puts squeeze on public sector salaries”. Meanwhile, it reports that a Cabinet Office inquiry into allegations of bullying by Home Secretary Priti Patel found evidence that she broke the ministerial code.

image captionThe Times leads on the Cabinet Office report, saying Boris Johnson will defend Priti Patel on Friday, pointing to the report’s conclusions that her actions may have have been “unintentional”. The prime minister will refuse to published the full investigation, the newspaper adds.

image captionThe Daily Mirror reports that the government is facing court action over the deaths of 20,000 care home residents during the pandemic.

image captionThe Metro says price comparison site CompareTheMarket has been fined £17.9m by the competition watchdog for making home insurance premiums artificially high. The company said it “fundamentally disagreed” with the findings, the newspaper reports.