PM: Vaccine is on way

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson says he is “absolutely convinced” the UK will have a vaccine within “a few months.”

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, he said: “In just a few months we will have a vaccine. I am absolutely convinced of it now.

“I am convinced that by April things genuinely will be much much better.”

The Prime Minister insisted the tough new restrictions planned for regions such as the North East are the only way of avoiding another full national lockdown early next year before a vaccine has been widely distributed.

He said: “If we ease off now, we risk losing control of this virus all over again, casting aside our hard-won gains and forcing us back into a New Year national lockdown.”

The Prime Minister also said he wanted to expand the mass testing regime which has already been introduced in Liverpool.