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Tuesday morning news briefing: Winter flu vaccine shortage

Flu jab
Flu jab

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Elderly face flu jab delays in wake of coronavirus

The flu vaccine is in short supply across parts of the UK, leading to fears that pensioners may face delays getting the jab. Surging demand caused by coronavirus has prompted pharmacies Boots and Lloyds to suspend bookings for those aged 65 and over, while the waiting time at some doctors' surgeries is several weeks. It follows the release of a Public Health England study showing Covid patients' chances of death roughly doubled if they contracted flu at the same time. Coronavirus has now claimed the lives of one million people across the globe. But as the death toll was reached early today, a senior World Health Organisation official warned it is likely to reach two million unless we get the pandemic properly under control. To what extent will immunity help prevent further deaths? How reliable is the data underpinning the global response? Will a new vaccine from China hold the key? As fatalities continue to climb, we ask three experts what could happen next.

Meanwhile, Tory grandees and senior MPs attacked Boris Johnson's handling of the pandemic, with Lord Lamont saying "draconian" repeated lockdowns were not tenable. As it was made illegal for households to meet in pubs and restaurants in large parts of northeast England, how best to cope with the prospect of a second lockdown? From adjusting your viewing habits to tweaking your wardrobe, Eleanor Steafel explains the ways to come through it unscathed.

Co-op Funeralcare staff use 'tricks' to boost profits

Staff at Britain's biggest funeral provider are using "tricks" to increase the profits it makes from families bereaved in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown, we can disclose. Branches of Co-op Funeralcare received emails from their boss encouraging them to steer clients toward more expensive funerals and to restrict more affordable options to unpopular times of day to make them less attractive. A reporter posing as a trainee funeral arranger witnessed workers mocking corpses, remarking on their obesity and making derogatory comments about suicide victims. Callum Adams has the full findings from our investigation into the "hard sell" awaiting bereaved families in their toughest moments.

We want our shark tooth back, Malta tells George

When Sir David Attenborough presented Prince George with a prehistoric shark tooth during a visit to Kensington Palace last week, it seemed little more than a charming detail of intergenerational bonding. But it has proved rather more complicated, as a minister from Malta - where Sir David found the tooth in the Sixties - demanded it back. The Maltese culture minister said the tooth belonged in a local museum. Royal Correspondent Hannah Furness explains the diplomatic row.

At a glance: More coronavirus headlines

Also in the news: Today's other headlines

Housing algorithm | Planning reforms would lead to a "disastrous urbanisation of the suburbs", a former Conservative Cabinet minister has warned. Analysis shows that Tory seats around London, Nottingham and Worcester will be forced to take tens of thousands of new homes due to reforms dubbed a "mutant planning algorithm". The plans, reportedly the invention of Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings, will deliver an extra five million homes across England over the next 15 years.

Around the world: Armenia told to pull out of region

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has told Armenia to end its "occupation" of the flashpoint region of Nagorno-Karabakh amid a second day of fighting that claimed 21 more lives. Read our dispatch on the severe flare-up of violence and view our daily world gallery.

Residents hide in a bomb shelter in Stepanakert. CREDIT: ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY - ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
Residents hide in a bomb shelter in Stepanakert. CREDIT: ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY - ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

Comment and analysis

Editor's choice: Features and arts

  1. Introducing The Trump Card An exclusive new Telegraph podcast with Nigel Farage

  2. Not shy in her birthday suit Why Gwyneth was right to post a naked picture at 48

  3. Unemployment hustle Reality of finding work after 50 in today's jobs wasteland

Business and money briefing

Spending review | Tax hikes or another round of austerity will be needed to tackle permanently higher public spending as Covid costs threaten to "swallow up" a planned boost to government budgets, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned. It said the massive bill from the pandemic is set to push state spending as a share of national income above levels hit under the last Labour government.

Sport briefing

Liverpool 3 Arsenal 1 | Liverpool ended Arsenal's 100 per cent start to the season while extending their own with a victory at Anfield to make it 61 home league matches unbeaten. Jason Burt watched Liverpool's new £45million signing Diogo Jota seal the win with a clinical strike. Chief Sports Writer Oliver Brown says Liverpool showed "sheer flair".

Tonight's dinner

Roast pumpkin with burrata and hazelnut pesto | Diana Henry shares a delicious way to serve pumpkin, with a contrast of textures and temperatures. Read on for the recipe.

And finally... for this morning's downtime

The truth-seeker | Irish rocker Jim Corr's views on 9/11 and now the "Plandemic" caused some lively debates. His fans have stuck by him regardless. Ed Power looks at the baffling rise of a rock contrarian.