CONGRESSMAN TED LIEU OF
CALIFORNIA, THANK YOU FOR
JOINING US THIS AFTERNOON.
I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND
PATIENCE.
>> THANK YOU.
>>> WE HAVE MORE BREAKING NEWS
TO TELL YOU ABOUT.
THIS ONE COMING FROM OVERSEAS.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS
JOHNSON JUST ANNOUNCING WITHIN
THE HOUR ENGLAND IS GOING INTO A
NATIONAL LOCKDOWN UNTIL
MID-FEBRUARY.
AMID A RISE IN CASES AND THE
SPREAD OF THAT NEW VARIANT OF
THE CORONAVIRUS.
THE UK REPORTED A SINGLE-DAY
RECORD IN NEW CASES TODAY AND
EARLIER THE UNITED KINGDOM
BECAME THE FIRST NATION TO
ADMINISTER THE COVID-19 VACCINE
DEVELOPED BY ASTRAZENECA AND
OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
JOINING ME NOW FROM LONDON, NBC
NEWS CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT
RICHARD ENGEL.
HE SECURED ACCESS TO ONE OF
THOSE LOCATIONS IN ENGLAND WHERE
SOME OF THE FIRST DOSES OF THE
ASTRAZENECA/OXFORD VACCINE WERE
GIVEN.
RICHARD, GOOD TO HAVE YOU WITH
US.
ALSO AS WE MENTIONED, BREAKING
NEWS OUT OF THE UK.
WHAT MORE CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT
THIS LOCKDOWN THAT’S BEING
DESCRIBED AS EVEN MORE SEVERE
THAN THE INITIAL LOCKDOWN BACK
IN MARCH?
>> Reporter: SO, AYMAN, THIS IS
CERTAINLY NOT THE KIND OF DAY
THAT PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WERE
EXPECTING ON THE FIRST WORKING
DAY OF 2021.
THEY WERE HOPING THAT THIS WOULD
BE THE START OF A NEW ERA, THE
START OF A NEW VACCINATION
PROGRAM WHICH BEGAN THIS
MORNING, BUT THEN A SHORT WHILE
AGO, PRIME MINISTER BORIS
JOHNSON CAME OUT AND SAID THAT
CASES ARE SKYROCKETING, THAT
THEY HAVE BEEN INCREASING
DRAMATICALLY OVER THE LAST WEEK,
IN PARTICULAR.
HE SAID THAT THE NATIONAL HEALTH
CARE SERVICE HERE COULD BE
OVERWHELMED IF NOTHING WAS DONE.
SO HE ANNOUNCED THE START
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY OF A NEW
NATIONAL LOCKDOWN FOR ENGLAND.
THAT MEANS SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED.
UNIVERSITIES ARE CLOSED.
ALL OF THEM EXCEPT FOR EXTREME
CASES.
HE SAID THAT SCHOOL MEALS WOULD
BE DISTRIBUTED TO THOSE WHO
CAN’T -- WHO RELY ON HAVING
THEIR CHILDREN GET THEIR
NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS AT
SCHOOLS.
BUT THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NO LONGER
LEAVE THEIR HOMES UNLESS THERE’S
AN EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCE LIKE
SEEKING MEDICAL ATTENTION OR TO
ESCAPE DOMESTIC ABUSE.
SO IT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE
LOCKDOWN THAT WE HAD IN MARCH.
THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES.
FAMILY BUBBLES WHICH WERE NOT
HERE ROUGHLY A YEAR AGO ARE
BEING ALLOWED THIS TIME.
BUT EFFECTIVELY, WE ARE GOING
BACK INTO IN ENGLAND, AT LEAST,
A NEW NATIONAL LOCKDOWN.
BUT THE KEY DIFFERENCE IS THERE
IS NOT NECESSARILY AN END DATE
THIS TIME, BUT AN END CONCEPT.
HE TALKED ABOUT HOW BY
MID-FEBRUARY THEY SHOULD BE
EMERGING FROM THIS, IF THINGS GO
WELL AND IF THIS VIRUS DOESN’T
CHANGE AGAIN.
AND A LOT OF THIS HAS TO DO WITH
THIS NEW VARIANT, THIS NEW
MUTATION, WHICH THE PRIME
MINISTER SAID IS 50% TO 70% MORE
CONTAGIOUS THAN THE PREVIOUS
CORONAVIRUS.
>> QUITE REMARKABLE.
REALLY QUICKLY, RICHARD, DO YOU
HAVE ANY NEWS ON THE
ASTRAZENECA/OXFORD VACCINE?
HOW MUCH ARE OFFICIALS HOPING
THAT, TOO, COULD QUICKLY CHANGE
THE TIDE IN THE UK?
>> Reporter: THAT IS EVERYTHING.
THAT IS THE ENTIRE CALCULUS.
HE SAID THAT HOPEFULLY THEY CAN
GET OUT OF THIS NEW NATIONAL
LOCKDOWN WHICH HE SAID WILL LAST
THEFT UNTIL MID-FEBRUARY, IF
THINGS GO WELL AND THE VIRUS
DOESN’T CHANGE DRAMATICALLY.
ONCE AGAIN, BECAUSE OF THE
VACCINATION PROGRAM.
HE HOPES THAT BY MID-FEBRUARY
THIS COUNTRY WILL HAVE
VACCINATED ALL OF ITS TOP
PRIORITY CANDIDATES.
THAT IS ALL PEOPLE OVER 70, ALL
PEOPLE IN CARE HOMES, AND ALL
FRONT LINE MEDICAL WORKERS.
SO EVERYTHING IS DEPENDENT ON
GETTING THIS VACCINATION PROGRAM