The prime minister is determined the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England will be lifted on 19 July, No 10 says, despite concern that a rise in deaths could force a change of plan. Boris Johnson said the measures must remain in place until then because of the rapid spread of the Delta variant. All adults will be able to book a jab by the end of the week, NHS chiefs say. But some Tory MPs fear a further delay to lockdown easing amid warnings of a return to hundreds of deaths a day. A further 10 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported in the UK on Tuesday, and 7,673 more cases. Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said the health service would “finish the job” of the vaccination programme to the “greatest extent possible” over the next four weeks. He said he expected that all those over the age of 18 would be able to book “by the end of this week”, and that the NHS aimed to offer second doses to two-thirds of adults by 19 July. So far, nearly 42 million people in the UK have received their first dose, and just over 30 million have had their second. In Scotland, the easing of restrictions is likely to be pushed back by three weeks so more people can be vaccinated against the virus, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday. All of Scotland had been due to move to the lowest level zero of its five-tier system from 28 June. This new date will bring Scotland into line with England. On Monday, Mr Johnson announced a four-week delay to the planned easing of lockdown restrictions in England on 21 June, after scientific advisers warned of a “significant resurgence” in people needing hospital treatment if it went ahead. He said 19 July would be the “terminus date” for the remaining restrictions on social contact, and the delay would allow more people to get vaccinated. A few restrictions are being lifted on 21 June, including the limit on wedding guest numbers. And 15 coronavirus pilot events will continue as planned, including some upcoming Euro 2020 games, Wimbledon and arts and music performances. Attendees will have to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test. The announcement that the vaccine rollout would be accelerated came as Prof Graham Medley, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the numbers of people dying from coronavirus would rise. “The question is really as to what level they will rise,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “It is possible we could end up with a situation whereby the numbers of people going to the hospital really mean that the government have to take some kind of action that they don’t want to.” But he added that the government has had to do this throughout the pandemic. Prof Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the delay was “extremely welcome” and he hoped it would be “enough”. He told BBC Breakfast there was “very promising evidence” that the vaccination rollout meant there were fewer serious cases of coronavirus, and that getting more people vaccinated would allow England to “get ahead of this current wave”. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said he shared the prime minister’s confidence about the 19 July end date. “One can never predict the future with perfect confidence,” he told BBC Breakfast. “But insofar as we can be confident about anything in this complex world, we can be confident that the increased level of vaccination that we will have by 19 July should allow us to further relax restrictions.” However, Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, said “we could have moved ahead perfectly safely” without the delay. He told LBC radio that the prime minister’s comments about 19 July were “exactly the same words as he was using about 21 June”. “So some of us, I’m afraid, are a bit worried that we’re not going to actually move forward on 19 July,” he said. Labour, meanwhile, has accused the government of incompetence over its handling of Covid variants, saying lax border policies led to the Delta variant entering the country. “Rather than red-listing this variant, we essentially gave it the red carpet treatment as 20,000 people were allowed to arrive from India over a number of weeks in April, even though the warning signs were there,” shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said.
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