The Covid-19 pandemic could be declared over in the UK within weeks if the data shows jabs prevent people from being hospitalised, a vaccine expert has said.
Professor Andrew Pollard, from the Oxford Vaccine Group, said data showing whether the Covid jab is preventing hospitalisations from the new Indian strain should be available within weeks.
He said the "pandemic is over" if critical figures show people who are only falling mildly ill with the virus.
A surge in infections from the new Indian variant sparked alarm in Government, with Boris Johnson signalling that the final stage of lockdown easing on June 21 could be in doubt.
But hopes are mounting that the vaccine is holding firm against the new strain, with reports that the PM will give the green light to the final step of the roadmap within days.
A study by Public Health England (PHE) found that the Pfizer jab is 88% effective against the Indian variant after two doses.
The study, which took place between April 5 and May 16, found that the jab was almost as effective against symptomatic disease from the B1617.2 strain as it was against the Kent variant, with 93% effectiveness.
The AstraZeneca jab was 60% effective, compared with 66% against the Kent variant over the same period.
Both vaccines were 33% effective against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose, compared with about 50% against the Kent strain.
Prof Pollard told the BBC's Today programme: "The thing that makes this a pandemic is people going into hospital.
"And so what we really need to know, and we don't have the data yet for certain, is how well both vaccines are performing in preventing people from going into hospital."
He said "we just need a few more weeks" to get that data.
Asked if the pandemic could be declared over if hospital admissions could be kept low, Prof Pollard said: "If the current generation of vaccines are able to stop people going into hospital, whilst there is still mild infections, people are getting the common cold with the virus, then the pandemic is over.
"Because we can live with the virus, in fact we are going to have to live with the virus in one way or another, but it doesn't matter if most people are kept out of hospital because then the NHS can continue to function and life will be back to normal.
"We just need a little bit more time to have certainty around this."
He said work was underway on new vaccines in case they need to be tweaked to battle new variants but they may not be needed.
It comes after Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said the June 21 lockdown lifting was "looking good".
Nightclubs will be allowed to reopen and restrictions on large events such as festivals are to be lifted at this point.
But she urged the public to be cautious to avoid another lockdown, warning that the new Indian variant has become the "dominant strain" in some parts of the country.
Dr Harries, a former deputy chief medical officer, told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: "It's looking good if people are continuing to observe all of the safety signals, so we should not stop doing what we're doing, particularly in areas where we have that variant of concern, the B1617.2, in the North West and around London.
"It's really important that people continue to do hands, face, space and work from home, have their jabs and go for tests as well."
