Current restrictions set to end on 19 July, says Health Secretary

The new Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that the current Covid restrictions cannot continue beyond 19 July.

In a speech to the House of Commons, Mr Javid, who was appointed to the position at weekend, said the government “could see no reason to go beyond 19 July” as “no date we choose comes with zero-risk for Covid.”

Mr Javid said: “I spent my first day as Health Secretary just yesterday looking at the data and testing it to the limit.

“And whilst we decided not to bring forward step 4, we see no reason to go beyond 19 July.

“Because in truth: no date we choose comes with zero-risk for Covid.

“We know we cannot simply eliminate it – we have to learn to live with it.

“We also know that people and businesses need certainty. So we want every step to be irreversible.”

Mr Javid also gave an update on the vaccination programme: 84% of adults have got a jab and 61% of adults have had two doses.

The government is aiming for two thirds of all adults in the country to have both vaccinations by 19 July.

He said: “This progress has allowed us to safely take those first 3 steps out of lockdown – and on towards greater freedoms we enjoy today.

“We owe this strong position, not only to the NHS, but everyone that has played their part.

“There remains a big task ahead of us: to restore our freedoms, freedoms that, save for the greatest of circumstances, no government should ever wish to curtail.

“So my task is to help return the economic and cultural life that makes this country so great – while of course protecting life and our NHS.

“That task has been made all the more difficult by the Delta variant, which we now know makes up 95% of new cases in the UK.

“Not only does it spread more easily, but the evidence points to a higher risk of those who have not been vaccinated needing hospital treatment – compared to the previously dominant Alpha variant.

“This narrowing of the race between the virus and the vaccine led to this government’s difficult decision to pause step 4 on our roadmap until 19 July.

“We’re using this extra time to protect as many people as we can.

“When the government took that decision on June 14, over 4.3 million over 40s had had a first dose but not a second.

“That’s now down to 3.2 million people over 40. Our aim is that around two-thirds of all adults in this country will have had both doses by 19 July.

“We’re bringing forward second doses, and bringing forward our target for first doses too, so we can meet that 19 July goal.

“Vaccine uptake remains sky high. We’ve seen that age is no barrier for enthusiasm for getting the jab.”

Mr Javid continued: “As of this weekend, more than half of adults under 30 have taken up the chance to be vaccinated. And our vaccines are working – including against the Delta variant.

“The latest modelling from Public Health England shows they have saved over 27,000 lives and have prevented over 7 million people from getting Covid-19.

“We do know that after a single dose of vaccine the effectiveness is lower against this new Delta variant at around a 33% reduction in symptomatic disease.

“But two doses of the vaccine are just as effective against hospital admission with the Delta variant, compared to the Alpha variant.

“The jabs are making a difference in our hospitals too.

“In January, people over 65 who were vaccinated earlier in our programme made up the vast majority of hospital admissions.

“The latest data show that group now makes up less than a third.

“While cases are now are ticking up, the number of deaths remains mercifully low – and we’ll continue to investigate how our vaccines are breaking that link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths.

“And I’m encouraged by new data just today from Oxford University’s ‘mix and match’ trial which show that a mixed schedule of jabs – such as getting the AstraZeneca jab first then Pfizer second – could give our booster vaccination programme more flexibility – and possibly even some better immune responses.”

Mr Javid concluded: “The restrictions to our freedoms must come to an end.

“We owe it to the British people, who have sacrificed so much, to restore their freedoms as quickly as we possibly can – and not to wait a moment longer than we need to.

“With the numbers heading the right direction - all while we protect more and more people each day - 19 July remains our target date.

“The Prime Minister has called it our ‘terminus date’.

“For me, the 19 July is not only the end of the line but the start of an exciting new journey for our country.”

 

Read more: Rochdale-born MP Sajid Javid is the new Health SecretaryPublished: 28 June 2021