Brits Could Enjoy 'Happy And Free' Summer Once Most Adults Are Vaccinated, Matt Hancock Says

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said Brits should be able to enjoy a 'happy and free Great British summer' once the 'vast majority' of adults have been vaccinated.

While we've still got a long road ahead as the vaccine rollout continues, Hancock hinted that hope could be on the horizon as we move towards the warmer months.

Speaking to BBC Politics East today, he warned that Britain will 'have a few tough few months between now and then', with many restrictions likely to be in place until the late Spring.

But Hancock added that by the summer, he believed most adults will have received their vaccine, which could help ease restrictions.

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He said: "In six months we'll be in the middle, I hope, of a happy and free Great British summer.

"I have a high degree of confidence that by then the vast majority of adults will have been vaccinated."

Hancock added: "We have to follow the data, we have to see the impact of the vaccine on the ground. It's a difficult balance: we've got to move as fast as we can but in such a way that keeps people safe."

Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England's Covid strategy chief, has also said she hopes summer will see us living a slightly more 'normal' life.

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However, before then, we must aim to end the current lockdown restrictions 'very slowly' and 'very cautiously', so that if cases begin to increase again we can 'clamp down quite fast'.

Explaining how the focus should be on getting people vaccinated and preventing another wave of infections, Hopkins told the BBC's Andrew Marr: "I hope that this summer will be similar to last summer... and that will allow us to do things that feel more normal."

Hopkins added: "The NHS is going to be under pressure until the end of March, as normal in winter, but even more so with the amount of inpatients they still have with Covid-19.

"Any releases that we have will have to happen very slowly, very cautiously, watching and waiting as we go with a two-week period to watch and see the impact of that relaxation because it takes that [time] to see what's happening in the population."

Topics: UK News, News, Coronavirus

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

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