UK could be ‘close to normal’ by summer, Government scientific adviser says

The lifting of restrictions in 2020 saw crowds flock back to beaches in July (PA)

The UK could be easing out of restrictions in March and back to almost normal by summer if vaccines are 70% to 80% effective at blocking transmission, a government scientific adviser has suggested.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of Sage subgroup the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M), said scientists believed vaccines would block transmission of coronavirus but it was not yet known by how much.