UK coronavirus news: Johnson mulls Christmas ‘amnesty’ followed by new lockdown as death toll up by 529

Boris Johnson is mulling a five-day “amnesty” on coronavirus restrictions starting on Christmas Eve to allow families to spend the festive period together.

But each day of greater freedom around Christmas could require an extra five days of coronavirus restrictions, scientists have said.

It has been reported households could be allowed to mix indoors for five days starting on Christmas Eve - meaning a potential 25-day period of tighter measures into January if such advice was implemented.

Watch: How will a vaccine be administered? What about adverse reactions?

But each day of greater freedom around Christmas could require an extra five days of coronavirus restrictions, scientists have said.

It has been reported households could be allowed to mix indoors for five days starting on Christmas Eve - meaning a potential 25-day period of tighter measures into January if such advice was implemented.

Meanwhile, Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine has been found to be 95 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 as it passed all final safety checks, with the company saying it is now ready to be presented to regulatory authorities for market approval.

Watch: Is Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine safe and will it work?

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