Health secretary Matt Hancock has 'great hopes' for when Covid-19 restrictions could be lifted.
The news comes as the first coronavirus vaccines were rolled out in Bristol. Somerset, Gloucestershire and the rest of the country today.
North Bristol Hospital Trust has been chosen as one of 50 vaccination hubs across the UK, and people aged 80 and over, care home workers and hospital staff will be the first to get the jab.
Get the biggest stories from across Bristol straight to your inbox
Following the vaccine rollout, Matt Hancock said he had “great hopes” Covid-19 restrictions could be lifted next summer, or even in the spring.
On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Health Secretary laid out his plans.
He said: “We’ve said that we think that, from the spring, things can start getting back to normal, and, because we’ve been able to get this vaccination programme going sooner than anywhere else in the world, we’ll be able to bring that date forward a bit.
Mr Hancock also said the vaccine rollout was an “incredibly important moment on the march out of this pandemic, but we’ve still got a long march to go this winter”.
He added: “People need to keep respecting the rules and try to live in a way that if you have the virus infects as few people as possible.
“And we are seeing rising numbers of cases in parts of Essex, parts of Kent and parts of London in particular – and we’ve got to keep this under control.”
