“Not because we expect the full national lockdown to continue until then, but to allow a steady, controlled and evidence-led move down through the tiers on a regional basis – carefully, brick by brick, as it were, breaking free of our confinement but without risking the hard won gains that our protections have given us.”
When the Government reviews the lockdown measures, factors such as vaccine rollout will be taken into account.
So far nearly 7.5 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the Government is aiming to vaccinate all of the top four priority groups by mid-February.
The data will also need to support easing lockdown, with Covid cases in the UK still concerningly high to date.
