UK Covid: one dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine reduces hospitalisation in over-80s by 80%, data shows – as it happened

Health secretary says data shows that, for over-80s, a single vaccine shot leads to a more than 80% reduction in hospitalisation. This live blog is now closed - for updates, please follow the global coronavirus live blog

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6.34pm GMT

[This data] shows us how, if we are patient and we give this vaccine programme time to have its full effect, it is going to hopefully take us into a very different world in the next few months.

The effectiveness of the vaccine on protecting people, and on reducing transmission, is critical to the roadmap [for lifting lockdown restrictions] ... The data that we've published today shows that the roadmap is achievable, because it shows that we will be able to break the link from cases through to hospitalisations and to deaths, and until now in the pandemic that link from cases through to hospitalisations and deaths has been unbreakable. And we have demonstrated with the data today that the vaccines can break that link, and that is down to the power of science. So it's good news for everybody.

Related: Coronavirus live: global cases rose for first time in seven weeks at end of February; stricter Czech lockdown

6.01pm GMT

Q: What do you make of the EU plan for a vaccine passport?

Hancock says the UK is working with international partners on this. The EU is part of the discussion, as are other partners.