What the papers say – February 12

Vaccines and the chance of an escape from lockdown are splashed across the front pages on Friday.

Over-65s will start receiving letters containing invitations to get their coronavirus jabs from Monday as the UK’s “vaccine blitz races ahead”, according to The Sun.

Metro says Sage member Sir Jeremy Farrar has warned Boris Johnson against easing lockdown in March or April, the scientist saying the Government’s road-map to be revealed on February 22 “frankly doesn’t make any sense”.

The Times reports ministers are considering plans to take the country out of lockdown which would see social distancing in place until at least autumn and potentially until the end of the year.

The head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Nick Carter, warns in The Daily Telegraph that the pandemic risks creating the economic chaos and nationalist problems of the 1930s.

But Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane writes in the Daily Mail that Britain’s economy will bounce back like a “coiled spring” once lockdown ends.

The Daily Star reports Matt Hancock and the Government have caused “holiday chaos” as the paper calls for “a bit of clarity” over summer travel.

New research published by The Independent shows a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis can prevent Covid-19 deaths and accelerate recovery.

More than 4.5 million people are “in NHS limbo” as they sit on waiting lists for routine procedures including hip and knee operations, reports the i.

Documents showing Transport Secretary Grant Shapps overrode official advice over the £27 billion expansion of England’s road network has “thrown into doubt” whether the project will continue, according to The Guardian.

The Daily Express says Lord Ian Botham has criticised the BBC for causing “immense distress” to older viewers who have failed to pay their licence fees.

The Financial Times reports the billionaire brothers buying Asda set a record by raising the largest-ever sterling junk bond of £2.8 billion.

And the Daily Mirror covers the conviction of a butcher who raped and murdered Libby Squire in Hull, with the university student’s family quoted as saying “Our wonderful girl will always be with us”.