UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to start unwinding England’s third and final Coronavirus lockdown, as a quickening UK-wide inoculation drive relieves pressure on hard-hit hospitals.
Johnson is expected to confirm the reopening of all English schools on March 8 in the first big step towards restoring normal life.
The Conservative Prime Minister, who was accused of acting too late and relaxing curbs too early last year, says he will lay out a “cautious but irreversible” plan to ensure no more lockdowns.
Britain is one of the countries hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 120,000 deaths.
It was the first nation to begin a mass vaccination campaign, in December, but surging case numbers forced a return to lockdown in early January after an easing of curbs over Christmas.
More than 17 million people have now received at least a first vaccine dose, one-third of the adult UK population.