No need for Plan B

 The UK now has one of the highest weekly rates of new reported cases in the world, and vaccination rates have fallen behind other European countries.

While the weekly rate of new reported cases stands at 24 per 100,000 people in Spain and 48 per 100,000 people in France, this figure currently stands at 463 per 100,000 people in the UK.

Data shows that approximately 67% of the population has received two doses of a COVID-19 jab, compared with 75% in Denmark, 79% in Spain and 86% in Portugal.

The UK government insists that there is no need to return to restrictions nor to implement its Plan B. 

Their hope is that ramping up the vaccination programme to children aged 12 to 15 and booster jabs to those whose immunity has diminished will be sufficient. Because the UK was early on in getting vaccines into people's arms means that the need for booster jabs there is more urgent. The UK was slow off the mark to approve vaccines for children and is struggling to get those that are eligible to come forward.