rising tensions over post brexit checks at northern ireland s ports the prime minister calls for urgent action from the eu. remembering captain sir tom moore a minute s silence is observed in the house of commons, and the nation is urged to clap for him at 6pm tonight. british stars lead the pack as this year s golden globes nominations are announced daisy edgar jones, olivia colman and jodie comer are all up for awards. hello, good afternoon. a huge milestone has been reached in the uk s coronavirus vaccine programme this afternoon, which health secretary matt hancock has called hugely significant. ten million people have now been given their first dose of either the pfizer or oxford astrazeneca vaccine. meanwhile, new research suggests the oxford astrazeneca vaccine may reduce the spread of coronavirus by reducing transmission. a warning this report from our health correspondent anna collinson contains some flashing images. it s been the great unknown would vaccines
week as part of a congressional delegation. and we begin with the latest on the coronavirus pandemic. right now, the biden administration s website to request free at-home covid tests is up and running. americans can visit covidtest.gov to place an order for four tests to be delivered to their door by the united states postal service. the administration also says it will begin distributing 400 million n95 masks from the national stockpile to thousands of locations across the country. joining me now is nbc news correspondent heidi przybyla. also with us is dr. joseph varon, the chief of critical care at united memorial medical center in houston. thank you for being with me. heidi, you spoke exclusively with the new testing coordinator at the white house. what did he tell you about what he can expect from this new program? reporter: jose, i just wanted to point out that the reason why these new programs are so significant is that for the first time, the federal government i
riot. the lawmakers also want to know about mccarthy s contact with white house chief of staff mark meadows in the days that led up to january 6th. he s made significant public statements about what occurred on january 6th and we d to hear from him. he gave a statement on the floor about president trump bearing some responsibility for what occurred. if he doesn t cooperate with the voluntary request, would you subpoena him? well, let me say we ll consider it. well, tonight mccarthy issued his own statement saying he will not comply with the committee. quote, i have concluded not to participate with the select committee s abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward. but here s the thing, this past may mccarthy was singing a very different tune. would you be willing to testify about your conversation with donald trump on january 6th if you were asked by an outside commission? sure. next question. you didn t hear that? he s
a judge rules in the tennis star s favor, but the match is not over. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start in our health lead. nearly a quarter of hospitals across america are more strained than ever as the omicron variant is pushing the u.s. health care system to the brink. according to the latest data, more than 141,000 people are currently hospitalized with covid. that s just below last year s all-time high. at least 90% of those or more are unvaccinated. and according to the cdc, in some hospitals up to 40% of patients tested positive after being admitted for something else. hospitalizations among children, meanwhile, are at their highest level with the vast majority also unvaccinated, according to the cdc. as cnn s alexandra field now reports, health experts are urging parents to vaccinate their children if the kids meet the age requirements as multiple school districts across this country are grapple with reopening from the holiday break. parents are outr