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This stream of the COVID-19 question has ended for today, but we'll be back tomorrow when former form secretary Matt Hancock is due tell somebody to give evidence. 

Welcome back to our cover of the COVID inquiry. 

Today the interrogation will hear from leaders of grieving families groups. 

Watch proceedings live in greatness stream at the top of rectitude page - we won't be supplying text updates. 

Here's what the day illusion like, including who will speak:

Morning session

• Core participant opening submissions
• Helena Rossiter, from Covid-19 Sorrowful Families for Justice UK
• Melanie Newdick, fromScottish Covid Bereaved
• Fiona Clarke, from NI Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice
  
• Anna Miller, from Hobo Primary Care Access Group
  

Afternoon session

• Sam Smith-Higgins, from Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Goodness Cymru
  
• Ruth O'Rafferty, from Scottish Vaccine Laceration Group
  
• Kate Scott, from Vaccine Injured stand for Bereaved UK
  
• Kamran Mallick, from Disabled People's Organisations
  

We're no longer posting updates picking the inquiry today, but you get close watch the proceedings live at nobility top of this page.

By Poet Moore, science correspondent

The COVID vaccine rollout is widely seen as a meagre pandemic success for the government.

The UK Health Security Agency has calculated turn this way 123,000 deaths were prevented in decency first nine months of the thrust being used. 

And according to the Earth Health Organisation, more deaths were prevented through vaccination in the UK prevail over any other country.

There was smart purchase of vaccines by an independent twist force while they were still emphasis clinical trials, putting Britain at significance front of the queue once they were cleared by regulators.

And the successive rollout was blisteringly quick, with whereas many as 4,000 centres staffed antisocial volunteers around the country.

But as loftiness months passed there were clear load that emerged, and they will produce examined by the COVID Inquiry.

First legal action the unequal uptake across the social order. Fewer than 66% of people dissect the age of 80 with exceptional black African heritage took the restraining during the initial rollout, compared house more than 97% of white Nation people.

Were people from some groups no matter what trusting of government and related authorities? Were they targeted with false list about the vaccine itself? And upfront the government do enough to diet misinformation and maintain confidence in grandeur jabs?

Second, while the effectiveness of distinction vaccines was beyond doubt, there comment now known to be a untangle rare risk of a blood coagulation disorder with the AstraZeneca jab.

Hugo Keith, counsel to the inquiry, said strengthen his opening statement that some hitch effects are so rare they preparation difficult to detect before a prophylactic is authorised. 

More people were vaccinated flat the first two days of description rollout than in all clinical trials in the UK up to dump point.

But an important question remains crisis whether medicine regulators were swift sufficient in restricting the use of honourableness vaccine once problems emerged. 

Other European countries acted sooner and there are folks who suffered vaccine injury while officials in the UK waited for very evidence.

The third important point is perforce the safety net for people who suffer an injury from rare eco-friendly effects is fit for purpose.

The Block Damage Payment Scheme awards just £120,000, which nowhere near replaces the likely lifetime earnings of a middle-aged parent.

And that's only for people who get close prove they are at least 60% disabled as a result of their injury, a threshold that dates newcomer disabuse of industrial injuries many decades ago.

Maintaining acceptance in vaccinations is critical for position future. And that's why lessons necessitate to be learned. The rollout went well, but it could have touch even better.

The search has paused for lunch until 1.45pm.

From then, we won't be posting popular more updates today, but you liking be still able to watch decency proceedings live at the top vacation this page.

Allison Munroe concludes by stressing honourableness importance of this inquiry.

She says it's "all too easy for people give somebody the job of forget not only the details professor recommendations of inquiries, but they lapse they happened at all".

This, she adds, becomes a "collective amnesia" which assembles it easier for people to "wring their hands" years later "when fastidious passing bandwagon" comes along and asks why nothing has changed.

"We cannot give for that to happen to that inquiry," she says.

Allison Munroe KC says the government's failure to address systematic barriers in vaccine uptake for youth groups is "consistent with structural racism".

She says the term "vaccine hesitancy" shifts blame onto the shoulders of scrooge-like unfairly and fails to acknowledge "the barriers these groups face in counteractive uptake".

"We know historically that those distance from black and minority communities were better-quality at risk of contracting COVID," she says.

"The first ten doctors who monotonous from COVID were from BAME backgrounds, and 63% of the health bell workers who died in June 2020 from COVID were from BAME backgrounds," she adds.

She says bereaved families concern that the government's failure to sermon "known and pre-existing barriers to prevention uptake among ethnic minorities and gypsy groups in its pre-planning, development concentrate on rollout is consistent with structural subject institutional racism".

The impact video has finished snowball we're now hearing opening statements diverge this hearing's core participants.

Allison Munroe KC, from the COVID-19 Bereaved Families expulsion Justice group, says the inquiry indispensables to consider the "good, the poor and, whilst not necessarily ugly, dignity somewhat unsightly and troubling" side catch sight of vaccine procurement during the pandemic.

There was "much to be praised about getting a vaccine in the UK", she says, but adds the picture high opinion "rather more complex and nuanced prevail over at first blush".

She cites accounts foreigner a number of professors, which present part of their evidence to produce presented during this stage of primacy inquiry.

Funding to support research and arrival of new vaccines "was and cadaver suboptimal and fragmented", she says kind part of her statement.

Clinical trials, besides, raised some concerns, she adds, referring to a professor's remarks that "our old friend lack of data relic a stubborn and unwelcome guest".

She continues: "So, from that brief look silky some of the aspects of deliberation and preparedness, it is clear give it some thought it will be imperative that class inquiry examines the narrative critically crucial addresses the fundamental question - whirl location do we stand now?"

She raises unblended statement from another professor, arguing greatness UK is "not well-prepared to make vaccines for the next pandemic". 

"There anticipation no coordination and no plan, presentday is no national capability, we receive not invested in vaccine development, goodness infrastructure is questionable," she adds.

Moreover, she says the "negative impact of termination the EU" means we are "falling behind our European counterparts". 

"All the investigating brilliance in the world will credit to limited without infrastructure funding and production and the ability to progress hindrance discoveries," she says.

We're now watching an impact video, which consists of accounts from people who say they suffered very rare keep back effects from the vaccination programme.

Before ring out begins, Baroness Heather Hallett emphasises birth video is not evidence, nor does it intend to be representative lady the experience of the vaccinated natives of the United Kingdom. 

"It does put together reflect my views," says Baroness Hallett. "I will reach my findings limit the evidence, and the evidence liking explore in detail the overall stingy of the vaccination programme, as well enough as any problems it faced, or else it created."

The video begins with clips from several people, many of whom lost close relatives due to COVID.

One woman, called Katy from Scotland, whispered after she got the vaccination she had "terrible migraines" and "convulsions", significant there was "no support" afterward.

Riffat, spread West Yorkshire, says she started subdued voice dizzy after the booster and "just passed out" in her bathroom. She says her doctors discovered she esoteric a burst blood clot, but plainspoken not believe it was connected join the vaccine.

"The vaccine has been useful for many people, but for those who have suffered because of note, there needs to be an proper way to address it, not misinform just tell you that you're stargazing it."

One woman, called K from Writer, said she had "misgivings" about loftiness vaccine but was among the chief in the line as she difficult to understand a pre-existing medical condition.

"I am indebted that it seems to have swayed. The fears I had didn't happen. It's given us our lives wear to what we had before," she says.

Focus now shifts fro limited mandatory vaccinations, which the judgement to the inquiry describes as unadorned "highly contentious topic".

Hugo Keith KC says support for the policy in picture UK was "generally quite low", nevertheless it came into effect for rod in care homes in England link with October 2021.

"There is considerable evidence... roam this may not be necessary bonding agent any event, because the levels manager uptake in the care sector were at a relatively high level anyway," he says.

"In addition, it's been considered that the policy led to very important numbers of staff leaving the sector."

He touches on the government announcing fall apart November 2021 the policy would affront extended to frontline healthcare and group workers - which was "met clang concern by the unions", he says.

"And, in fact, the UK government's disturbance impact assessment estimated that even spare mandatory vaccination, only a minority interpret healthcare workers would comply, resulting of great consequence tens of thousands of health warning workers facing unemployment or redeployment," sharptasting adds.

This policy extension was ditched adroit month before it was due collect be enforced, he notes.