England’s deputy medical officer has said that it is “incredibly safe” for two fully vaccinated people to meet inside. However, under Boris Johnson’s current social distancing rules, it is still not allowed.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam made the remarks during a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday in response to a question related to Dr Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, telling MPs that while some countries have returned more freedoms to those that have been vaccinated, in the UK “we tend to do everything together” and thus social restrictions would continue to be lifted nationally.
However, Dr Ramsay suggested that the government could reexamine this approach, telling the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee per The Times: “We’re reaching the stage where there’s a bigger cohort of people who’ve had two doses, and we will be looking at the individual advice that we give to people.”
As of April 27th, 64.5 per cent of Britons have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 25.8 per cent have had both, according to government figures.
Van-Tam said in relation to Ramsay’s statement: “If two people who both had two doses of vaccine and have both served at least 14 days after their second dose, then I would be highly confident scientifically that – if those were reputable vaccines – then indeed it would be incredibly safe for those two people to meet.”
He then urged the public not to do so, adding, according to The Telegraph: “I know this feels tantalisingly, extremely close and it is going to be frustrating at times, particularly for those who have had their two doses – but we just need to make sure we don’t have to go backwards again on any of this.”
Prof Van-Tam also said that the most recent data suggested England was “at, or close to, the bottom” of levels of the Chinese coronavirus, with lower numbers of hospitalisations, at around 1,634, far below 38,000 at the pandemic’s peak.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock backed Van-Tam’s point that the country would be unlocking together until the projected lifting of all restrictions on June 21st, saying: “The decision we’ve taken, and I think it’s a decision very widely supported across the country, is to move together. And that’s what the road map [out of lockdown] does.”
Up to six people will not be legally allowed to meet indoors until next month.
While recent polls have shown Britons to largely approve of the government’s lockdown strategies and would even miss lockdown, a number are taking to the streets to protest lockdowns and proposed domestic immunity certificates, otherwise referred to as vaccine passports.
On the apparent large backing for the government’s lockdowns, Brexit leader Nigel Farage told Breitbart News Daily on Wednesday: “…the bigger government gets and the more of a role it plays in our lives, sadly the more people are prepared to accept diktats from government.
“I would never have believed, I have always thought, the independently minded British wouldn’t put up with lockdowns like this. You see the opinion polls say that overall the government still has majority support for this kind of action.
“I’m astonished by it, I’m depressed by it, but that’s where we are and getting some of these freedoms back is going to be a very big battle.”