A senior politician has said it is ‘in our hands’ to ensure Covid restrictions are not needed over the Christmas period.
Oliver Dowden didn’t rule out the need for further measures as he called on people to get their booster jab as soon as possible.
The Conservative Party chairman said the Government is waiting on advice from the JCVI before rolling out third doses to more people.
Asked about his predictions for six weeks time, in the run-up to Christmas Day, he told Sky News: ‘Really it is in our hands…if you get the booster when the call comes that is the biggest wall of defence that we have against Covid.
‘If you look at the infection numbers at the end of October, they were roughly comparable to where they were in mid-January last year, when we were really in the height of it.
‘But hospital admissions were 74% lower. Now that shows you the power of the vaccine. So I’m confident if we stick the course, if people take the boosters when they are asked to do so, that vaccine will hold up and we’ll be able to have a decent Christmas this year.’
Pressed on whether the country could find itself in a similar position to 2020 – when celebrations were cancelled with a few days notice – Mr Dowden said there were ‘no plans to stop Christmas happening’.
‘The way we avoid a challenging position is to take the booster. I can assure you there are no plans or anything else to stop Christmas happening.
‘The huge difference this time is the vaccine and the huge impact of the vaccine. The way we keep that vaccine topped up…is get your booster when you get the call up.
‘If you compare to where we were last year, zero people had the vaccine we are now at around 89/90% of adults with the vaccine.
‘That is what is protecting us from going back to what we had at Christmas but we have to keep that protection topped up.’
With cases rising again across parts of Europe, Mr Dowden admitted travel restrictions between the UK and its near neighbours may have to be reviewed again.
The Netherlands is among the countries to have brought back Covid restrictions in recent days, including shutting bars and restaurants early.
Mr Dowden said what’s happening abroad is a ‘constant reminder’ that the global pandemic hasn’t gone away.
He added: ‘We keep these things under review all the time. We have moved away from some of those restrictions but we haven’t ruled it out.
‘If the situation changes dramatically we would have to review that again.’
Asked what ‘dramatic change’ would look like, Mr Dowden said a new variant emerging would force the country to look again at border restrictions.
He was speaking as Austria introduced new rules which effectively lock down only the unvaccinated with those who have had their jabs given more freedoms.
Asked whether the UK would consider a similar approach to Austria, Mr Dowden said it ‘wasn’t something we are contemplating.’
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