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LONDON: The UK could return to pre-closure normality by next summer if a vaccine is successful and rolled out in early 2021, Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Monday (September 21).
The most vulnerable could also be vaccinated later this year, he added.
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“For the mass launch, we are talking about the first part of next year, if all goes well … There is still a chance that it will go live before Christmas, but then we have to implement it, and first the people who get it they are the most vulnerable people, “Hancock said during an interview on ITV.
When asked when it would go back to normal, Hancock said, “Yeah … one of the vaccines comes out, early next year, we hope, hope, for next summer.”
In the interview, the Health Minister added that Britain needed to get COVID-19 under control now to make Christmas “as normal as possible.”
“The more we can control the virus now and stop the spread now, the easier it will be to have as normal a Christmas as possible,” he said.
“I really hope we can get there. If this gets out of hand now, we will have to take tougher action in the future.”
COVID-19 RULES FOR PUBS TO CHANGE SOON
The Health Minister said changes will be made to the COVID-19 safety rules affecting pubs.
When asked if the pubs would open over the weekend, Hancock said: “We will be absolutely clear about the changes we need to make in the very, very near future.
READ: Closing UK nightclubs worry about not seeing the light of day
When asked if that meant no, he replied: “It is not a no and it is not a yes. We have been working on this all weekend, we have not made the final decision on what we should do in response to the increase we have. viewed.”
Shares of UK-listed restaurant and pub groups, including JD Wetherspoon, Mitchells & Butlers, Marston’s and Restaurant Group, fell 9 to 18 percent on the stock market.
The broader bluechip FTSE 100 index was down 3 percent.
Pubs in parts of the country that are already under local lockdown restrictions have been forced to close at 2100 GMT and Hancock’s comments that the virus is spreading in social circumstances fueled expectations that further restrictions would be imposed.
Large sectors of the economy were forced to shut down for three months earlier this year to halt the spread of COVID-19, with pubs, restaurants, cinemas and entertainment centers closing their doors.
The good weather in the summer has helped fuel recovery, with many drinkers and diners sitting outside to meet friends. Many smaller hospitality owners have warned that they may not survive if they have to re-close.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday considered a second national lockdown, as an accelerating outbreak of COVID-19 threatened to destroy any buds of economic recovery and send millions back into isolation.
The UK already has the highest official death toll from COVID-19 in Europe, and the fifth highest in the world, while it is borrowing record amounts in an attempt to pump emergency money through the damaged economy.
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