Boris Johnson today admitted that a Christmas lockdown was not completely off the cards and made a desperate plea for Britons to get their booster jabs. MailOnline has more.
The PM – who appeared to be suffering from a cold – warned “storm clouds” of infection were gathering over Europe and forcing nations back into restrictions, which highlighted how the UK “cannot afford to be complacent”.
He said people should get a booster if they want to “avoid restrictions on daily lives”, adding that it would be an “utter tragedy” if double-vaccinated people died from Covid because they didn’t get one.
Mr Johnson also admitted people might need proof of a booster jab to be considered “fully vaccinated” in the future, in a move which could cause fresh chaos for Britons’ travel plans.
The warnings came as Britain recorded another 39,705 daily coronavirus infections, which were up nearly a quarter on last Monday’s figure. But deaths and hospital admissions – both lagging indicators – fell week-on-week.
There were 47 Covid victims registered today, down 18% on last week, and latest hospital data shows there were 976 admissions on November 9, down 7.5%.
The PM issued his warning at a Downing Street press conference, where he also confirmed that people in their forties will be offered a booster jab and older teenagers will get second doses.
Asked if a lockdown would be necessary if cases continue to rise, the PM said “clearly we cannot rule anything out” but insisted he didn’t “see anything in the data that says we have to go now”.
The comments came after Austria announced a draconian new lockdown on the unvaccinated, after a dramatic increase in infections, and the Netherlands imposed a curfew on pubs and restaurants to deal with rising cases.
Germany, France and Italy have also been seeing a significant uptick in their outbreaks. The PM was joined today by his chief scientists Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance at the Government’s first Covid briefing of the month.
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