The British government refuses to set an “arbitrary target” to achieve to ease the containment put in place to fight the coronavirus, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab announced on Sunday.
Mr Raab made the remarks in the face of mounting pressure from some lawmakers to remove all anti-epidemic restrictions by the end of April.
More than 60 Conservative Party MPs have indeed declared their support for a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying there was “no reason” for the current restrictions to remain in place when all over 50 will have received a dose of vaccine.
“I don’t think we can set an arbitrary target without relying on concrete evidence, and that’s why the February 22 record will be so important,” Raab told a Media in response to the letter.
Mr Raab warned the UK government would take a “cautious” approach before easing current restrictions.
“We have made good progress … We don’t want this all to fall apart because we are trying to go too fast and too far,” Raab told Media.
On Saturday, Mr Johnson said he was “optimistic” about the announcement scheduled for February 22, in which he must define a “road map” to ease containment measures in England.
Mr Johnson said his plan would prioritize reopening schools from March 8, then non-essential retail, and finally reception venues.
In the UK, more than 15 million people have received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
Downing Street has previously confirmed that all British adults aged 50 and over will be offered the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by early May. The UK has set itself the goal of getting all adults their first dose by the fall.
