British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Monday that the next planned relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in England will be delayed by 4 weeks, till July 19, a decision he mentioned will save thousands of lives as the government speeds up its vaccination drive.
In a press briefing, Johnson voiced his confidence that the new date for the lifting of restrictions on social contact will be the final one as the vaccination drive is accelerated to counter the delta variant that scientists reckon is between 40% and 80% more transmissible than the previous dominant strain within the U.K.
“I think it’s sensible to wait just a little longer,” he mentioned. “Now is the time to ease off the accelerator, because by being cautious now we have the chance within the next 4 weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions of more individuals.”
He mentioned that by July 19, two-thirds of the adult population will have been double-vaccinated, including everyone over the age of 50, and that everyone over the age of 18 will have been offered a jab, earlier than the previous target of the month’s end. The gap between the 2 doses for over 40s is also being reduced to eight weeks from 12 to provide the maximum protection against the variant sooner.
New analysis Monday from Public Health England confirmed that two doses of the main vaccines within the U.K.’s rollout are highly effective against hospitalization from the delta variant, which was first identified in India. It mentioned the Pfizer vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalization after 2 doses whereas the AstraZeneca jab is 92% effective.
“It’s unmistakably clear the vaccines are working and the sheer scale of the vaccine rollout has made our position incomparably better than in previous waves,” Johnson mentioned.
Under the government’s plan for coming out of lockdown, all restrictions on social contact were set to be lifted next Monday. Many businesses, particularly those in hospitality and leisure, voiced their disappointment about the delay to what had been dubbed by the British media as “Freedom Day.” Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been particularly upset on the prospect of a delay and has mentioned he’ll reopen his theaters regardless, a move that would risk him being arrested.
A delay is a particularly bitter pill for nightclubs, as they haven’t been allowed to reopen since March 2020.
It will also likely impact how many fans are allowed into the Wimbledon tennis tournament and the European Championship soccer matches at Wembley Stadium, which will host the tournament’s semi-finals and final. However, actual numbers may be higher at certain events as Johnson mentioned the government will carry on with its test program to allow more fans into stadiums.
When Johnson first outlined the government’s four-stage plan for lifting the lockdown in England in February, he set June 21 as the earliest date by which restrictions on individuals gathering would be lifted. However, he stressed at the time that the timetable was not carved in stone and that all the steps would be driven by “data not dates” and would seek to be “irreversible.”
The rapid rollout of vaccines and a strict months-long lockdown helped drive down the number of virus-related deaths within the U.K. in recent months. Despite that, the nation has recorded nearly 128,000 virus-related deaths, more than any other nation in Europe.
