Despite the UK’s successful vaccine rollout, which has given two doses to more than half of the adult population, the prevalence of the Delta variant — first identified in India — has convinced the Prime Minister and his government that “freedom day” for English citizens, as some have called it, must be delayed by four weeks to July 19.
“Now is the time to ease off the accelerator because by being cautious now, we have the chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people,” Johnson said at a press conference in Downing Street.
The variant is growing in the UK at 7% week on week and the government fears that if restrictions were to be fully lifted next Monday, then hospitalizations could rise to the levels seen in the country’s first wave.
The four-week gap will allow the government to accelerate giving second vaccinations to those most vulnerable.
“Vaccination greatly reduces transmission and two doses provides a very high level of…