PM urges public to be ‘realistic’ about future coronavirus wave

LONDON: Boris Johnson has urged the public to be “realistic” about the prospect of the UK being hit with another wave of coronavirus infections in the future.

The Prime Minister told broadcasters that while lockdowns meant the virus was now “under control”, he warned that “there probably will be another wave of the disease”. But Johnson said that coronavirus jabs would provide “pretty robust fortifications” should there be another spike in infections going forward, as he hailed the UK’s vaccination programme.

He urged the public to take up the vaccine when offered it, with a Government campaign calling on people aged 50 and under to get their jab so the UK can “continue on the path back to normality”. It comes as the Prime Minister denied saying he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than order another lockdown, amid a bitter briefing war that has hit Downing Street.

During a visit to Wrexham, when asked if he had made the comments attributed to him, Johnson said: “No, but I think the important thing I think people want us to get on and do as a Government is to make sure that the lockdowns work.

“They have, and I really pay tribute to the people of this country, this whole country of ours, that have really pulled together and, working with the vaccination programme, we have got the disease under control.

“The numbers of deaths, the number of hospitalisations, are currently very low. That doesn’t mean that we have got it totally licked, it doesn’t mean that Covid is over.

“We have got to be realistic about that, unfortunately there probably will be another wave of the disease, but I think that the vaccination programme has now been so massive – 33.6 million people vaccinated.

“We have built up what I think are some pretty robust fortifications against the next wave, we will have to see how strong they really are in due course.”

A Government campaign – called “every vaccination gives us hope” – includes a TV advert which will showcase the health workers and volunteers involved in the vaccination rollout across the UK.

The campaign will predominantly be aimed at people under the age of 50 who will be offered their first dose, as well as the over-50s who are booked in for their second dose, to encourage vaccine uptake.

From Monday in England, people aged 44 will be invited to book their jab, with NHS England saying around half-a-million 44-year-olds would receive a text inviting them to get their jab through the national booking service.