That Times article (NB it has info on the new variants, but does say at the bottom that they are fairly confident vaccines will work)
‘ Ministers have ordered plans to be drawn up for a fresh crackdown at Britain’s borders to stop new variants of the coronavirus undermining the vaccination effort.
Officials have been told to prepare for the creation of quarantine hotels for those arriving in Britain and to use GPS and facial-recognition technology to check that people are staying in isolation.
The moves come as ministers grow increasingly optimistic that they will hit their target of vaccinating the 14 million most vulnerable people with at least one dose by February 15.
Ten mass vaccination centres will open from 8am tomorrow, including Bournemouth International Centre, Taunton racecourse, the Princess Royal Sports Arena in Lincolnshire and St Helens rugby league stadium in Merseyside. It was announced yesterday that 40% of the over-80s have had their first jab and that this week millions of people aged over 70 will begin getting letters inviting them to be vaccinated.
A cabinet deal has been done to approve a three-point plan to begin lifting lockdown restrictions as soon as early March.
Areas will be put into lower tiers once their death rate has fallen, the number of hospital admissions drops and some in the 50- to 70-year-old age range are vaccinated, as this age group spends the most time in hospital with the virus.
Cabinet ministers said privately that they were prepared to resist pressure from members of the Sage advisory committee to delay tier changes until most people are vaccinated, a process that would take until the summer at least.
Instead, ministers will begin drawing up a timetable for the end of lockdown at the end of this week once they see the first evidence of the effect of the latest national lockdown.
A cabinet source said: “For the first time there are no significant divisions between hawks and doves in the cabinet. Everyone accepted that we need to lock down hard and everyone accepts that we need to open up before everyone is vaccinated.”
But Downing Street believes the biggest threat to opening up is the growing number of mutant viruses around the world — some of which might be immune to the three vaccines Britain has bought.
Last week officials were ordered to study New Zealand’s policy of “directed isolation”, where everyone arriving is charged for a stay at an airport hotel and forced to remain in isolation for two weeks.
In Australia it is between 14 and 24 days, with travellers charged between £1,500 and £2,500. The UK government is only considering a system where visitors pay the costs themselves.
Civil servants will also examine how to emulate a scheme in Poland, where those told to isolate are subject to “enhanced monitoring”. Each person is contacted once a day and told to send a photograph of themselves at the location where they are confined. These are cross-referenced using GPS data and facial-recognition software. Those who fail to comply within 20 minutes receive a visit from police.
It is understood that ministers discussed both ideas at a meeting on Thursday. A senior government source said that, if used, this technology would be confined to new arrivals in the UK, not those told to self-isolate who are already here.
The plans go further than changes announced last week that require everyone coming to the UK to produce a negative Covid test. “Air corridors”, which allowed some people to come in more easily, were scrapped.
Cabinet sources said Matt Hancock, the health secretary, floated a moratorium on all international travel for a month, to stop new variants in their tracks, but faced resistance from Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, on the grounds it would cripple trade.
The mass vaccination centres will boost the total number of large-scale centres delivering the jabs to 17 and ensure at least one is located in each health region so that rural parts of the country such as Boston in Lincolnshire and Norwich were within reach of one.
The other super-hubs opening are Blackburn Cathedral in Lancashire, Salt Hill Activity Centre in Slough, Norwich Foodcourt, the Lodge in Wickford in Essex, the park and ride at Askham Bar, York, and the Olympic Office Centre, in Wembley, northwest London.
In a rapid acceleration of the vaccine drive, dozens of pharmacies will begin offering the first dose of the jab from tomorrow.
Hancock urged people to commit to three pledges to “help out”, “join up” and “stay informed” during the efforts to vaccinate, run clinical trials and share accurate health advice.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, warned the government against lifting the restrictions too quickly. Hopson said: “We need to be careful about saying that just because people have been vaccinated the spread won’t happen and therefore we can pull off all restrictions on social contact immediately.”
One member of Sage said yesterday: “If the government opens up without having driven it [the number of virus cases] towards zero, and without a good test, trace and isolate system, the virus is going to bounce back. If we are not extremely careful, we’re could see yo-yo lockdowns for some time.”
Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said there would be lots of new variants this year, but the current vaccines should protect against the strains circulating in the UK.
In a tweet last night, Robert Courts, the aviation minister, announced a scheme to offer grants to airports and ground operations under pressure from the reduction in travel.’