Katy Balls Katy Balls

‘Feathers have been ruffled’: Life after Cummings at No.10

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Boris Johnson used today’s press conference to issue sobering news: warning that the new Covid strain may be more deadly. The better news? The vaccines that have been approved are likely to be as effective against the new strain as the original. There were also figures to suggest things are slowly improving: the R number has fallen to a rate of between 0.8 and 1. And 5.4 million people, around one in ten of the adult population, have now received their first dose of the vaccine.

Yet despite the good news on the vaccine rollout, there is little in the way of optimism in 10 Downing Street this week. Instead, advisers and officials are increasingly pessimistic over the chance of easing restrictions anytime soon, with the Prime Minister’s spokesperson declining this week to even say lockdown would be over by the summer. ‘Remember when people spoke of the vaccine as the way to freedom?’, says one official lamenting the recent change in tone in Whitehall.

Officials are keen to stress that easing of lockdown isn’t just down to the vaccinations or the R number. They also have to look at the prevalence of the virus and the high number of new cases. With over 40,000 recorded on Friday, this is a big cause of concern. While the vaccine rollout is moving at pace, there are several factors making ministers nervous about its effectiveness.

A a reduction in the number of Pfizer vaccine doses available in the short term (as the company updates its manufacturing base) has added to the logistical challenge. At the moment, the government plans to give everyone their second Pfizer dose within twelve weeks. The worry: ‘What happens if the supplies fall short? We could have limited effectiveness and have wasted vaccines,’ says an adviser.

Attitudes to lockdown sceptic MPs have hardened across government

The biggest concern is new variants popping up which could beat the vaccine.

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