Boris Johnson has warned against covid complacency as he said a “new wave” of the virus was now hitting western Europe.
At a Downing Street press conference the Prime Minister said there were “storm clouds” gathering over the continent as he urged people to get vaccine boosters when offered.
He said: ”We don’t yet know the extent to which this new wave will sweep up on our shores but history shows that we cannot afford to be complacent,” he said.
“Those countries with lower vaccination rates have tended to see bigger surges in infection and in turn been forced to respond with harsher measures while those countries with higher vaccination rates have so far fared better.
“It shows us that if we want to control the epidemic here in the UK and if we want to avoid restrictions on our daily lives we must all get vaccinated as soon as we are eligible.”
Johnson said there was nothing in the data to suggest the country needed to move to Plan B of Covid measures and face another Christmas lockdown.
He told a press briefing: “Clearly we cannot rule anything out and the most important thing people can do to prevent further NPIs from being taken is to – non-pharmaceutical interventions that is, further restrictions – get the boosters.”
He said “That’s the best protection we can have. But to repeat, I see nothing in the data at the moment that makes me think we have to go to further measures.”
Nicola Sturgeon is due to announce on Tuesday whether tougher restrictions are needed in Scotland to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
Speculation has mounted in recent days the Scottish Government is considering extending the covid vaccine passport scheme to include more venues.
But business leaders have claimed almost two-thirds of firms are opposed to the measures being considered, fearing they could “place thousands of firms and jobs at risk”.
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