The outlook: The race between the vaccination campaign and the new variant of the virus is intensifying. The current lockdown is formally due to end on Feb. 15, but there is little chance restrictions will be totally lifted then.
For now, the government and health authorities are insisting on the need for compliance on the part of the public, without further restrictions. But if the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, as Whitty seems to expect, there will be little choice left.
Read: Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine appears to protect against U.K. and South African COVID-19 strains in lab, study finds