Vaccines ramped up as uncertainty surrounds June 21 lockdown easing

All over-50s are to be offered their second dose by June 21
BRITAIN-WEATHER
AFP via Getty Images
Sarah Harvey31 May 2021

The vaccination programme is set for “another big week” as ministers weigh up whether – and to what extent – England’s coronavirus restrictions can be lifted on June 21.

All over-50s are to have been offered both doses of the Covid vaccine by that date under a target set out by vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, although full protection takes time to kick in.

The continued spread of the Indian variant has cast doubt on the ability to scrap restrictions, with ministers considering plans to keep some measures – such as the continued use of face masks and guidance on working from home – in place.

But proposals for domestic vaccine passports are reported to have been shelved.

More than 25 million people have now received both doses of a vaccine and Mr Zahawi said: “Together we will beat Covid. The team is focused on another big week ahead.”

The Government will wait until June 14 to assess the latest data before deciding whether to proceed with lifting England’s remaining restrictions the following week.

The vaccine programme is one of the key factors in the decision and Mr Zahawi told Times Radio “I could do with more supply” because “I will be able to protect more people more rapidly”.

Asked whether the remaining restrictions could be eased if cases were still increasing, he told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “What I’m saying to you is we have to be cautious. We have to look at the data and share it with the country.

“Are we still vaccinating at scale? Big tick. Are the vaccines working? Yes.

“But are infection rates too high for us to then not be able to proceed because there are too many people getting into hospital? I don’t know the answer to it.”

HEALTH Coronavirus
PA Graphics

The latest official figures showed:

  • A further six people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Sunday
  • Between May 24 and 30 there were 60 deaths reported within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test, an increase of 42.9% compared to the previous seven days
  • As of 9am on Sunday, there had been a further 3,240 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.
  • The number of cases between May 24 and May 30 – 22,474 – was 26.8 per cent higher than the previous seven days.

Experts have warned against “charging ahead” with lifting lockdown on June 21.

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson warned that although hospitals were not expecting to be overwhelmed by a surge of Covid-19 cases, they were already stretched by going “full pelt” on dealing with the backlog of cases built up during the pandemic and urgent care needs.

Hospitals in tourist hotspots were also concerned about a rise in demand, with international travel restrictions meaning more holidaymakers flocking to British resorts.

“(The) current degree of pressure on hospitals is worrying especially since we saw clear summer demand surges in the two years before Covid-19,” he said.

“But if… success of (the) vaccination campaign means much lower levels of hospitalisation, serious illness and mortality, even with (the) new variant, that is very significant and important.

“This means there is a difficult decision to make for June 21.”

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, has said June 21 is “too early” to lift coronavirus restrictions in England

She told Sky News: “I really think that it is too early to be charging ahead. I would like to see several more weeks’ data.”

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) Government advisory panel, said there was still “quite a lot of uncertainty” around the June 21 date.

He told LBC: “We are starting to see signs of course that cases are going up, but at the moment we’re still obviously reporting hospital admissions and deaths at very low levels.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in