UK COVID Restrictions to Remain in Place For Years, Says Public Health Official

COVID Restrictions to Remain in Place For Years, Says Public Health Official 

Despite the UK’s largely successful rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, a public health official says masks and other social distancing restrictions are likely to remain in place for years because the public has become used to them. 

Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, said the measures would remain in place while other countries complete their vaccination programs, a process likely to take years. 

“People have got used to those lower-level restrictions now, and people can live with them, and the economy can still go on with those less severe restrictions in place,” said Ramsay. 

“So I think certainly for a few years, at least until other parts of the world are as well vaccinated as we are, and the numbers have come down everywhere, that is when we may be able to go very gradually back to a more normal situation,” she added.