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Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that early evidence from Oxford University has given the government “a high degree of confidence” that vaccines work against the Indian variant of Covid-19.
Mr Hancock told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that, despite the new findings, the public need to be “cautious, careful and vigilant” as social and economic restrictions are rolled back, including when indoor restaurants and pubs reopen and meetings in private homes resume on Monday.
The health secretary said it remained “too early to say” whether the final removal of lockdown curbs will go ahead on 21 June, telling Ridge that the decision will not be taken until a week in advance.
He said ministers are not ruling out a return to regional restrictions if the Indian variant creates serious localised surges in coronavirus. Vaccination and testing programmes have already been stepped up in Bolton and Blackburn in response to a surge in cases.
“We might have to take it but we will if it’s necessary to protect people,” he said.
Asked whether the 21 June relaxations may have to be delayed, Mr Hancock said: “I very much hope not.
“Our strategy remains on track. It is just that in the race between the vaccine and the variants, the variant has got more legs. That makes it more challenging but the overall strategy remains on track.”
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