Do vaccines lead to freedom – or to more lockdown rules? That very question would have seemed bizarre a few weeks ago, when Matt Hancock told this magazine that he’d ‘cry freedom’ when the most vulnerable had been protected. But now, things are swinging the other way. The end of the second wave in Britain (infections and intensive care admissions are down 95 per cent from the peak) has not been followed by reopening. Instead, it’s being used as rationale to continue lockdown for months to come.
The latest is international travel: the freedom to leave the country. As we reach the milestone of over half of UK adults having received at least their first dose of the vaccine (and excess deaths dropping below zero for the first time since August), the government has decided to crack down harder on travel than ever before. The latest iteration of the Coronavirus Act, which MPs will vote on this Thursday, could make international travel under most circumstances illegal until 30 June.
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