The West Country Debate December: Vaccines, tiers and Brexit

Yesterday (9 December) the first Cornish patients were given the jab.

The Pfizer/biontech vaccine is the first to be approved in the world - and there is a chance of more to come over the next few weeks.

Since the middle of lockdown last month the region's overall infection rate has fallen.

The West Country is the only part of mainland England to have areas in all three tiers.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are in the tier 1 with Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire in tier 3.

Labour's Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire says more support must be given for businesses which have been forced to close by the pandemic:

The number of new cases in the West Country continues to fall:

Despite the fall in new cases, the Government is calling on people to be cautious over Christmas to prevent a rise in infections.

Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay Steve Double says people must take care to keep each other safe:

You can catch up on last month's edition of the West Country debate here.