Professor Neil Ferguson from Imperial College London, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it is still “too early to tell” what effect the unlocking will have, and stressed that continued “caution” is needed.
Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Professor Ferguson said: “We won’t see for several more weeks what the effect of the unlocking is.
“We need to remain cautious, especially with the potential increase in contact rates again as the weather becomes less fine and schools return.
“We’re not completely out of the woods, but the equation has fundamentally changed. The effect of vaccines is hugely reducing the risk of hospitalisations and death. And I’m positive that by late September or October time we will be looking back at most of the pandemic.
“We will have Covid with us, we will still have people dying from Covid, but we’ll have put the bulk of the pandemic behind us.
“Clearly the higher we can get vaccination coverage, the better – that will protect people and reduce transmission – but there is going to be remaining uncertainty until the autumn.”
