Good Morning Britain’s Dr. Hilary Jones has warned against 'complacency' as he suggests the pandemic could last longer than we think.
Today marks one year since the UK’s first national lockdown. This incredibly poignant anniversary will be honored with a minute's silence in memory of those who have lost their lives throughout the pandemic.
Last month the government outlined their roadmap out of lockdown, which will see Brits finally be able to reunite with their loved ones after so many months apart.
However, restrictions, such as those on how many people can meet outdoors and inside, are set to remain in place in some form until June 21st at the earliest.
Despite this, the unveiling of a planned easing of restrictions, combined with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine will no doubt be a light at the end of the tunnel for many. Though it seems we should not be too quick to focus on the dates outlined for restriction easing.
According to Good Morning Britain’s Dr. Hilary Jones has now warned that the pandemic could last longer than we think amid suggestions that the EU may ban exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the UK over concerns it causes blood clots. This could in turn slow down the rollout of vaccines across the country.
Dr. Hilary stated: "There are new variants, there are surges, people are ignoring social distancing rules.
"In France, they're in real trouble with ITU units full, in Italy, they've got almost full lockdown in most areas.
"Germany are concerned about another lockdown having to be imposed, so there's certainly no room for complacency.”
And it’s not just the potential delay to Covid-19 vaccinations which could possibly see the pandemic lasting longer than anticipated. Dr. Hilary went on to explain that whilst the UK has done “brilliantly” with vaccinating record numbers of people, it’s not over yet.
"We mustn't rely completely on vaccination, we've done brilliantly well with a record number of vaccinations - over 800,000 in one day,” he said, before going on to add, "But vaccination is not going to be the only way out of this, we are still going to have to abide by restrictions and regulations for some time.
“This is a global pandemic. This is going to affect every population in the same way and whilst we have done extremely well we do have a pretty tired NHS work force to say the least, exhausted I would say."
"We are certainly not out of the woods yet," he concluded.
