The Papers: Oxford jab ‘set for approval’ as vulnerable identified

image captionThe Covid vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is set to win approval within days, says the Sunday Times. The paper says senior government officials expect the medicines regulator to give the green light to the jab before Thursday, as the head of AstraZeneca said the jab “should be” effective against the new, highly transmissible strain of the virus.

image captionThe Mail on Sunday says the UK could be free of tight Covid restrictions by the end of February, after ministers identified the 15 million people who would need vaccinations to end the “crippling” cycle of lockdowns. With the Oxford jab expected to be approved within days, the government hopes enough doses will soon be available to inoculate those most vulnerable within weeks, the paper says.

image captionBut the Sunday Mirror leads on warnings from MPs, doctors and care chiefs that the vaccine roll-out could turn into a “fiasco” akin to the the struggles the UK faced in securing personal protective equipment at the start of the pandemic. The paper says hundreds of GPs surgeries and scores of hospitals are still waiting for Pfizer jabs.

image captionThe Sunday Telegraph has the first interview with the prime minister after he signed the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU. It quotes Boris Johnson as saying the deal will usher in “big” changes to the UK, with animal welfare, data and chemicals being areas where the UK could diverge from Brussels.

image caption“The future’s in our hands” is the Sunday Express’s take, in reference to the historic agreement struck between the UK and EU. It quotes the UK’s chief negotiator, Lord Frost, as describing the post-Brexit trade deal as “one of the biggest and broadest agreements” ever made and a “moment of national renewal”.

image captionBut the Observer says fishing industry chiefs have accused Mr Johnson of “caving” in at the the 11th hour to clinch the deal. According to the paper, senior Conservative MPs have expressed alarm at plans to rush the accord through Parliament and say details in the fine print could still allow the EU to impose tariffs on British exports if businesses fail to follow European rules.

image captionAnd in other news, the Daily Star reports that a star of the sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys has said he is taking legal action against show boss Brendan O’Carroll and the BBC. According to the paper, Gary Hollywood has lodged papers for an employment tribunal following a fall-out over pay.