Chris Whitty: Social distancing measures likely in place until next year
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There is only an “incredibly small probability” of a coronavirus vaccine being available for public use or a full lifting of social distancing restrictions in the next calendar year, according to the UK’s chief medical officer.
Professor Chris Whitty said at today’s Covid-19 press conference that Britons should be prepared for some form of social distancing measures to be in place for the foreseeable future.
He said this would only change with a vaccine or “highly effective drugs” available.
Whitty said he was hopeful we will have “vaccines that have proof of concept much earlier than a year”, but that it will take some time for any vaccine to be produced en masse and distributed.
It comes just a day after health secretary Matt Hancock announced that an Oxford University vaccine development will start human trials tomorrow, after the team received £20m in funding.
“The exit from this is going to be one of two things – a highly effective vaccine…or highly effective drugs, so people stop dying of this disease even if they catch it,” Whitty said.
“Until that point – the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small – we’re going to have to rely on other social measures which are of course are very socially disruptive.
“If people are hoping that we are going to suddenly be moving from lockdown to ‘everything is gone’, that is a wholly unrealistic expectation. We are going to have to do a lot of things for really a long period of time.”