Life should be "more normal" by autumn but there is still a risk that the South African variant could undermine the UK's vaccination rollout, Professor Neil Ferguson has warned.
Prof Ferguson, who was one of the architect's of the first lockdown, said the new wave of cases in Europe did not affect the UK's exit from lockdown as that surge has "already happened to us".
But he warned that the South African variant could still pose an issue, as jabs offer reduced protection against it compared to other strains.
Prof Ferguson said the surge in Europe has "already happened to us and we're through to the other side, but the real concern is things like the South African variant, where the vaccination programme we're currently using, whilst it would still give some protection against that (variant), the protection would be reduced."
He told BBC Breakfast that the UK has "rolled out vaccination very fast and so we are in a very different position for most European countries".
He added: "We have vaccinated more than twice the proportion of the population than any other European country has done, so we're in a better place from that point of view.
"I don't think, just because cases are rising in Europe, that necessarily throws our timetable into doubt; what it may do is affect planning around restrictions on international travel, how much we try and screen people coming into the country."
Prof Ferguson said he was "optimistic we'll be able to start seeing each other again in the next month, which is within the road map plan".
He added: "Depending what happens in other areas of the world, travel may be one of the later things to be relaxed. But I think we... whilst not everything will be back to normal by the summer, certainly by the autumn, it will feel a lot more normal."
Booster jabs in the autumn will be vital to hold of the threat of other variants, he said.
Prof Ferguson said: "We don't yet know how long the immunity lasts from the vaccines we're giving, but natural immunity to coronavirus probably lasts a year or so, so it's entirely likely we will need to boost immunity.
"We can't stop things like the Brazilian and the South African variants forever and they are different immunologically.
"The current vaccines are not as effective against those strains probably, so for that reason as well we want to update vaccines and boost people's immunity."
