Boris Johnson has this evening confirmed that he will delay the lifting of all Covid restrictions by four weeks to 19 July. Announcing the decision in a press conference, Johnson said the Indian variant – also known as the Delta variant – has changed the picture and meant the government was no longer able to proceed with the full unlocking plan they had first hoped.
The Prime Minister said two jabs were very effective against the new variant. The problem? ‘There are still millions of younger adults who have not been vaccinated and sadly a proportion of the elderly and vulnerable may still succumb even if they have had two jabs,’ Johnson said.
Without a delay, Johnson argued ‘there is a real possibility that the virus will outrun the vaccines and that thousands more deaths would ensue that could otherwise have been avoided’.
So, is this the final delay to lockdown easing?
Delaying a full reopening, he said, would give ‘our NHS a few more crucial weeks to get those remaining jabs into the arms of those who need them’.
There will, however, be some easing of the current restrictions.
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