Health Secretary Matt Hancock has refused to rule out another national lockdown amid concerns the new variant coronavirus is spreading out of control.
Mr Hancock hailed the start of the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as an 82-year-old former maintenance manager, 'born and bred in the city' became the first person to receive the jab outside of clinical trials.
He said the NHS had the capacity to deliver two million doses a week of the vaccine once it received supplies from the manufacturers.
But with the latest data showing a 33per cent rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in hospital in England between Christmas Day and January 2, he warned there would be 'some very difficult weeks' to come.
Asked about the prospect of another national lockdown, he acknowledged that the current restrictions were insufficient to control the spread of the disease.
He told Sky News this morning: “We don’t rule anything out, and we’ve shown repeatedly that we will look at the public health advice and we will take the public health advice in terms of what is needed to control the spread of the disease.
“This new variant is much easier to catch, it is much more transmissible, and we’re now seeing the effect of that in lots of different parts of the country, unfortunately.
“And it means that whereas the old Tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country.”
Delighted that today we roll out the @UniofOxford / @AstraZeneca vaccine across the whole UK 🇬🇧
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) January 4, 2021
It’s a vital step in our fight against this pandemic
This is a national mission. Thank you to everyone involved. pic.twitter.com/EU3R0AJoCx
Asked whether Tier 4 restrictions work, Mr Hancock said: “It is down to people’s behaviour, frankly. What matters is, yes of course, the rules that we put in place, but it is also about how people act.
The virus is clearly out of control.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 3, 2021
It’s not good enough for the Prime Minister to hint at further restrictions at unspecified times and then do nothing.
He must put national restrictions in place within the next 24 hours.
No more dither, no more delay.
“And frankly what I would say is this: it is critical that everybody in the country does all that they can to reduce the spread of the virus.”
Despite the concerns, Mr Hancock insisted it was safe for primary schools to reopen in all but the worst hit areas of England following the Christmas break.
He said that teachers were at no greater risk of contracting the disease than the rest of the population.
“There is clear public health advice behind the position that we have taken and that is what people should follow because, of course, education is very important as well, especially for people’s long-term health,” he said.
However, Boris Johnson is coming under pressure from unions in the education sector to order a “pause” in a return to the classroom until the safety of staff and pupils can be guaranteed.
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