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The government will not set an “arbitrary target” for when the blockade can be lifted despite pressure from some parliamentarians to remove all restrictions by the end of April, the foreign secretary told Sky News.
Dominic Raab said the plan was to “ease the lockdown” with the return of the schools, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously said will happen in March 8 as “earlier”.
More than 60 Conservative MPs are said to have backed a letter to the prime minister from the blockade skeptic. COVID Recovery Group (CRG), which said there will be no “justification” for the restrictions to be maintained once a coup has been offered to everyone over 50.
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More than 60 conservative backbenchers are said to have backed a letter to the prime minister calling for the shutdown to end in May.
But Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday show: “The plan is to get 99% of people at risk of dying to dispense their first dose by the end of April, or indeed offer their first dose.”
“By doing so, eliminating the fatality from this virus, we are in a much better position to proceed to begin easing the lockdown … starting with schools, nonessential retail.
“I don’t think you can set an arbitrary target and not be guided by evidence, which is why the February 22 review is so important.”
Johnson plans to reveal a roadmap to ease England’s blockade on February 22.
Mr Raab told Sky News that the government “hopes” that schools will reopen in England on March 8 as planned.
“We need to wait to carefully evaluate the data and allow those plans to be put in place,” the foreign secretary said.
“Because we are making progress, I think we can be confident that we can begin the process of opening schools on the 8th.”
Raab said opening nonessential retail will be “very important” and “things like the ability to socialize with outsiders … are quality of life issues, they really matter, so they are no small feat.”
But he warned that the government would take a “careful” approach to easing the restrictions.
“We have made good progress,” Raab said. “We don’t want that to unravel because we’re going too far, too fast.”
The CRG has described the reopening of England’s schools on March 8 as a “national priority” to be achieved, and said pubs and restaurants should be able to open in a COVID-19-Safe way for Easter.
The group wrote: “COVID is a serious disease and we must control it. However, like COVID, lockdowns and restrictions cause immense health and social damage, and have a huge impact on people’s livelihoods.
“The vaccine gives us immunity against COVID, but it should also give us permanent immunity against COVID-related blockages and restrictions.”
However, Raab said the government will not make a “slightly arbitrary compromise” on lifting the blockade “without reviewing the impact the measures have had on the transmission and hospital admissions of the virus.”
He confirmed that the government is “on track” to meet its goal of offering a coronavirus injection to the 15 million people in its four highest priority groups by Monday.
This includes nursing home residents and staff, all those over 70, all frontline NHS and care staff, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
As of Saturday, the number of UK adults who received a dose of a coronavirus vaccine. it has increased to 14,556,827.
NHS staff also begin vaccinating those over 65 and clinically vulnerable since Monday, with over a million people already receiving their invitations to book a jab.
