Coronavirus live: England speeds up booster jab rollout, Ukraine reports record daily death toll | World news

Mainland China reported 55 new Covid-19 cases on 6 November, down from 78 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Saturday.

The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that 40 of the new cases were locally transmitted, down from 68 the previous day, with 16 in the north-east border province of Heilongjiang.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, stood at 27, down from 42 a day earlier. Mainland China has reported 97,660 coronavirus cases, with 4,636 deaths

Ukraine reported a record daily high of 793 Coronavirus-related deaths, the health ministry said.

It comes as the country grapples with Covid vaccination scepticism. More than a thousand people blocked several streets in the centre of the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday, protesting against vaccine certificates and state-imposed restrictions to control the virus.

The protesters held up signs reading “Say No to Covid passports”, “Say no to Covid genocide”.

In England, people will be able to book their Covid-19 booster jab a month before they are eligible from Monday.

The NHS is changing the booking system to allow people in England to arrange an appointment a month in advance, as the health service aims to ramp up vaccination uptake ahead of a “challenging” winter.

Currently, anyone eligible who had their second dose of a coronavirus vaccine six months ago can only book their top-up once those six months are up.

The update means that people can pre-book an appointment after five months, allowing them to get vaccinated on the day they reach the six-month milestone.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “Covid-19 vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your family ahead of a challenging winter and this change to the booking system will make it as easy as possible for people to book their booster jabs.”