UK Hopes to Be Able to Consider Lockdown Easing in March - Tasnim News Agency

Britain’s government hopes it can meet its target for rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and be able to consider easing lockdown restrictions by March, UK foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday.

The country, which has Europe’s highest COVID-19 death toll, has been under a national lockdown since Jan. 5, when schools were closed for most pupils, non-essential businesses were shut to the public, and people were ordered to work from home where possible.

“What we want to do is get out of this national lockdown as soon as possible,” Raab told Sky News television.

“By early spring, hopefully by March, we’ll be in a position to make those decisions. I think its right to say we won’t do it all in one big bang. As we phase out the national lockdown, I think we’ll end up phasing through a tiered approach.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set a target of vaccinating the elderly, including care home residents, the clinically vulnerable and frontline workers — or roughly more than 13 million people — by mid-February.

If all goes smoothly, he has said that England can consider easing lockdown restrictions from that time, Reuters reported.