By Ben Kerrigan-
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has said it is “too early for us to know” whether coronavirus cases have been brought down sufficiently enough to end the second lockdown on 2 December.
His comments contradicted comments made by Boris Johnson, who has previously told MPs that he has “no doubt” that the restrictions will be eased after the planned four-week second lockdown.
The prime minister has made his position from that start that he wants England to return to a system of regional tiers after 2 December, with different areas following rules of varying stringency depending on the local prevalence of the virus. He promised MPs a vote on future arrangements in the week before the planned conclusion of the lockdown. However, Mr.Hancock’s reluctance to commit to the end of the lockdown period coming in just over a fortnight was similar to that made by mr.Gove .
In response to a question by BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter Nick Robinson whether lockdown would in fact end on the planned date or whether large parts of the country would have to continue with the same restrictions under a “rebadged” scheme, Mr Hancock was far less emphatic.
“You tempt me, Nick,” said Mr Hancock. “But it is it is too early to say, I’m afraid.
“We’ve seen in the last week that there is still a very high number of cases.
“But we do absolutely want to come out of this national lockdown. That is our goal.
“Everybody has a part to play in making that happen, of course, following the social distancing rules and – the critical thing – isolating if you need to.
Mr Hancock later hailed “great advances in medical science are coming to the rescue” of countries battling the coronavirus pandemic in the form of vaccines, but admitted the UK had only secured five million doses of Moderna’s jab. The UK has already secured 40 million doses of a vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech, which uses the same technology as Moderna and should be in the UK before Christmas.
The Health Secretary confirmed that 5million doses of the new Moderna vaccine had been secured – after it was found to be 94 per cent effective. He hailed it as a “candle of hope” which the country must keep nurtured. Shielding Brits under 65 WILL be among first in line for Covid vaccines, it was confirmed.
Boris Johnson handed the reigns to Mr Hancock to do today’s briefing as he is now isolating after coming into contact with an MP who tested positive for coronavirus
Yesterday’s figures showed cases rose just 0.06% in a week