two of the government's top scientists
have warned of the dangers of lifting
coronavirus restrictions
too quickly saying that the situation
could turn very bad very quickly
if lockdown is eased too fast professor
chris whittie told mps that
all the modelling suggests there is
going to be a further surge in
infections in the late summer or autumn
and many vulnerable people
still are not protected our health
editor hugh pim has more details
the vaccination program rolls on people
in derby
queuing and happy to get their jabs 55
to 59 year olds in england
now getting their invitations it's a
relief because i thought i'd have to
wait quite a while but i was i got the
letter yesterday and i'm booked in today
which is quite good
i've been waiting quite a long time yeah
but yeah the sooner the better for me
government advisors say the vaccination
plan is going very well
but they warn that while people will get
some protection against serious illness
the virus won't go away in fact it'll
probably spread faster as lockdown is
eased
all the modelling suggests there is
going to be a further surge and that
will find the people
who either have not been vaccinated or
where the vaccine has not worked
and some of them will end up in hospital
and sadly some of them will go on to die
and that is
that's just the reality schools in
england have opened up this week but
this primary in norwich there was even a
mini circus
to welcome children back and reassure
them officials say they need up to five
weeks to see how the reopening affects
the spread of the virus
parents meet people who perhaps weren't
going into work some of them
may go into work as a result so it
changes a number of things all of which
may have pressure on
on transmission lockdown easing in
england continues provisionally from
march the 29th with some outdoor
meetings and sports allowed
from april the 12th non-essential retail
outdoor hospitality and some leisure
facilities are set to reopen
from may the 17th some indoor meetings
and hospitality will be allowed
and june the 21st will be the earliest
possible date for a full reopening
the government advisors say it can't go
any quicker what the government
has been told over and again is take
this study
and what we don't want to do is
accelerate into trouble and then have to
reverse
straight back out again open things up
and immediately close them down
from friday in scotland up to four
people will be able to meet outdoors and
some adult sports will resume
the first minister said they were
heading in the right direction but it
was too soon to take a foot off the
break
if we continue to prioritize children's
education as i believe we should and
indeed must
our scope to make further changes will
be limited while we are still
rolling out the vaccine case numbers may
be falling but are still relatively high
the message from ministers and officials
around the uk
is that the grounds for hope must be
balanced by caution
hugh pim bbc news