A scientist who advises the government and Boris Johnson has said that an “earlier unlocking” of the lockdown could happen within weeks.
Professor Mark Woolhouse, of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, told MPs that the “data is so good,” with strong evidence which suggests that the lockdown could be lifted even earlier.
This week the government and scientists are looking into the impact of the current national lockdown along with the vaccine rollout to build Johnson’s roadmap back to some level of normality.
On Monday the Prime Minister will unveil his roadmap to the nation which could see non-essential shops to reopen in April and the hospitality sector to commence in June.
Professor Woolhouse warned the Commons Science and Technology Committee “The transmission blocking potential is key.
“But so, of course, is its actual ability to protect against death and disease, and to keep people out of hospital, and those numbers are looking really good.”
He added, “My conclusion from that is if you’re driven by the data and not by dates, right now, you should be looking at earlier unlocking.”
To date more than 15m people across the UK have received their first vaccine jab, and analysis shows that Britain could beat the target by as much as a month, with all priority groups given jabs by end of March.
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