'NO BACKSLIDING'
Furious Tory MPs hit back at calls for UK to delay relaxing lockdown & beg Boris not to backslide on timetable
FURIOUS Tory MPs today hit back at calls for the UK to delay relaxing lockdown - and begged Boris not to backslide on his timetable.
Scientists faced a backlash after they publicly called for the PM not to ease lockdown measures yet, and to delay it until the number of cases was in the thousands.
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Sir Jeremy Farrar said infections must fall to 10,000, a huge 75 times lower than the level he estimates is present at the moment.
The director of the Wellcome Trust said earlier: "Transmission is still incredibly high in the UK. If transmission were still at this level and we were not in lockdown, we would be going into lockdown.
"We’ve got to get it lower, we’ve got to get it – in my view – into the single thousands before we can possibly think of lifting restrictions."
But Tory MPs slapped down his calls - saying that once the main bulk of the vulnerable were vaccinated, it was vital that the country started to get back to normal.
Steve Baker MP, said earlier: "Having a full public debate is essential at this time but I fear senior scientists are failing to recognise their power to spread despair and despondency.
"Some seem to be floating untested hypotheses in the media. Doing so is not science. It is the death of science.
"I look forward to the Prime Minister’s 22nd February roadmap out of restrictions so that we can all reclaim our lives once and for all.”
Downing Street has said ministers "will look at the data in the round" after Sir Jeremy Farrar said he believes the number of coronavirus infections needs to be below 10,000 before restrictions can be eased.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We want to see infection rates continue to fall across the UK not least so that will ease the pressure on the NHS and ultimately lead to fewer people sadly dying.
"We will look at the data in the round and we will use that to inform the roadmap."
It came as No10 insisted today that the PM will set out his roadmap to reopening the nation in the week of the 22 of February.
The PM previously said it would be on that date itself.
Boris Johnson has already said he aims to reopen schools on March 8 providing pandemic numbers continue going in the right direction.
If he is to reopen schools for March 8, he will need to give the green light on February 22, otherwise he cannot give the two weeks' noticed promised to schools and parents.
The PM is also expected to set out a longer term roadmap for reopening shops and the hospitality sector, starting with activities that can be done outdoors like al fresco dining and open air markets.
It came as:
- It emerged Britain has now jabbed more people than the whole EU put together
- Mr Hancock confirmed he's booked a summer holiday - but couldn't tell fellow Brits whether to do the same
- The Health Secretary unveiled a major shake up of the NHS before MPs
- But SAGE experts pushed back on calls to ease the lockdown soon - and said Britain should wait until the number infected is in the low thousands
- One in five UK adults has now had a jab
Mark Harper MP, of the Covid Recovery Group, said today: "The Prime Minister, vaccines minister and Health Secretary have all confirmed that the plan for lifting restrictions would come on 22nd February.
"It’s crucial we don’t backslide on this, not least because the Government has said it wants to give schools 2 weeks notice before they open, and - as the PM said - it is the ‘settled will’ of most MPs that pupils should be back in school on 8th March."
But scientists' pessimistic remarks came as Matt Hancock said Britain is on course for an “easier” exit from lockdown because Brits are flocking to get Covid jabs in “incredible” numbers.
The Health Secretary revealed uptake of the vaccine has been “far, far higher than expected” raising hopes over the longer term scaling back of restrictions.
He said the Government had been working on the assumption three-quarters of people would get the jab, but the figure two months into the rollout programme is north of 90 per cent.
Take up has been particularly high amongst 75-79-year-olds and stands at an an “absolutely incredible” 96 per cent, he added.
Last night Boris Johnson made a public appeal for anyone who was in the top cohorts and hadn't had the jab to come forward and take it now.
Around two million still need to be jabbed in that cohort, he said, an areas the size of Birmingham.
The more people that are vaccinated, the more ministers will likely be able to reopen the economy and get life back to normal in the weeks to come.
Mr Hancock did not suggest today the Government is planning to accelerate plans that have already been announced, such as the March 8 reopening of schools.
But his revelation that the UK is ahead of where it expected to be on jabs take up will boost hopes for the longer term relaxation of restrictions.
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The Health Secretary was asked what percentage of people need to have taken the vaccine for the easing of restrictions to go ahead.
He told BBC Breakfast: “The assumption we had going into the vaccine programme was 75% of people would take the jab, and we’re now well over 90%.
“So that has gone far better than my most optimistic projections, and I’m quite an optimistic kind of guy.
“That has gone really very well and that of course does make it easier safely for us together to come out of this.
“The difference between say 80% of people taking this up and 90% is that you actually halve from 20 to 10 the number of people who are unprotected.
“These extra few percentages really, really matter because they reduce the number of people who are not protected.”
He added: “Every extra percent we get reduces the number of people who are not protected and that is crucial to how effective the overall rollout is.”
Mr Hancock said early evidence shows the vaccine reduces transmission of the virus by around two-thirds.
He said: “So that means taking the jab not only protects you, it protects those around you as well.”
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