'We want this lockdown to be the last', says PM plans for 'irreversible' easing of COVID restrictions

‘We want this lockdown to be the last’, says PM plans for ‘irreversible’ easing of COVID restrictions

Feb 15, 2021

Boris Johnson has set out his hope the current COVID lockdown will be the last thanks to the “unprecedented” vaccine rollout – but admitted he can’t offer “an absolute cast iron guarantee”.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, the prime minister hailed the “astonishing efforts” of everyone involved in the delivery of COVID jabs after the government met its target of offering a first dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable.

He praised the “unprecedented national achievement”, but said that now was “no moment to relax” as the vaccine rollout moves on to the next five priority groups.

Mr Johnson reiterated his intention to next week set out how England’s third national lockdown will be eased.

“Next week I’ll be setting out a roadmap saying as much as we possibly can about the route to normality, even though some things are very uncertain,” he said.

“Because we want this lockdown to be the last and we want progress to be cautious but also irreversible.

“So please continue to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.”

But the prime minister later said that, while he was “increasingly optimistic” about the possibility of easing restrictions, he couldn’t guarantee the current lockdown would be the last ever.

“I’m very hopeful that we’ll be able to go ahead and open things up, but to say I can give an absolute cast iron guarantee that we won’t face further difficulties and have to think harder and deeper about some problems, no at this stage I can’t,” he said.

Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said that reaching the first target of the UK’s vaccination programme was “definitely not mission accomplished”.

“I’ve described the vaccination campaign as two sprints and a marathon – we’ve just come through the finishing line of the first sprint,” he said.

Sir Simon described the vaccination of the next priority groups, including all over-50s, between now and the end of April as the “second sprint”.

And the “marathon” effort would involve “vaccination for everybody in the country who’s eligible, as well as the winter flu campaign and, potentially, further COVID booster shots this autumn”.

Earlier on Monday, it was announced the UK had recorded another 230 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test.

Another 9,765 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the latest government figures, with more than 15.3 million people having now received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

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