Covid restrictions may be eased before April if tiers and vaccine drive down virus, says PM

Watch in full: Boris Johnson quizzed by Robert Peston on coronavirus, vaccines and Brexit

Boris Johnson has told ITV News he hopes the UK could relax coronavirus restrictions before April - but only if the vaccine rollout and tier system help "drive down the virus".

In a wide-ranging interview with political editor Robert Peston, the prime minister talked about the difficult few months ahead, as Covid infections and hospital admissions continue to rise, as well as his new UK-EU Brexit trade deal. 'We will distribute as many vaccines as we can - depending on our supply'

Following the UK's approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Mr Johnson said the UK would roll out the second Covid-19 vaccine approved for us "as quickly as we can".

Earlier on Wednesday, AstraZeneca said it could produce two million doses of the vaccine a week.

When asked by Paul Brand on Wednesday morning, Matt Hancock said the UK could deliver the jab "at the pace AstraZeneca can manufacture" - a suggestion that two million jabs could take place a week.

However, the prime minister struck a more conciliatory tone, saying: "I'm not going to get into numbers.

  • Restrictions will be eased once tiering and vaccine works, PM tells Peston

"What I will say is we will go as fast as well possibly can."

He said: "We hoped to have done almost a million by today, and we will continue to accelerate and roll it out as fast as we can.

"But I don't want to give you all the numbers now because they are moving around and they depend on how fast we can crank up supply.

"What people will want to focus on and that you will want to know... when is the moment by which we would have done all that?

"What I can tell you today is we will go as fast as we can. As soon as we feel we can give people more confidence about that crossover moment happens, we will do that."

When pressed by Peston on whether the UK could start lifting restrictions by April, Mr Johnson said: "If the tiering can work to bring the virus under control, if the vaccine rollout proceeds fast enough and we're able to inoculate to protect those most vulnerable, then there's a world in which that date could be brought forward."

Keeping schools open a 'priority'

The prime minister also discussed the impact the new variant was having the in UK, saying it had become a "real problem" for hospitals as Covid admissions rose above their April peak.

The government has come under pressure to close schools from union leaders, with the new mutant strain now accounting for around 60% of all new cases, but the prime minister said keeping schools open remained a "priority".

"That's why we've taken the tough decision to put more people into higher tiers," he said.

"The pressure of the variant will make it more challenging for us to get kids back into school, although that is and remains the highest priority for the country."

Lateral flow tests will be used for mass testing on pupils, he said.

'Brexit will allow UK to spend more on priorities like the NHS'

The prime minister talked up the benefits of the UK-EU trade deal, ahead of parliament formally ratifying the deal on Wednesday evening.

When asked by Peston about what benefits the UK will have by January 1 - the Brexit transition period formally ends at 11pm on December 31 - the prime minister cited control of immigration and trade deals as two major factors.

"Don't forget we'll have taken back control of our borders," the prime minister said.

"So from January 1, there will be a new regime which allow us to control our own borders."

Mr Johnson also appeared to reference the controversial Vote Leave campaign pledge to invest more money in the NHS.

During the referendum campaign, Mr Johnson stood stood in front of a bus which claimed the UK could spend £350m a week more on the NHS - the sum the UK is said to have paid to the EU.

He said: "We'll have substantial sums of money which will return to the people of this country... which we will be able to use on our priorities such as the NHS, a point I think I may have made in the past."

'Do you recognise you're sometimes too optimistic during a crisis?'

That was the question put forward to the prime minister during his 20-minute sit-down with Robert Peston.

Mr Johnson has been accused of over-promising and under-delivering on Brexit and Covid, but the Conservative leader defended his stance, saying that optimism was needed during difficult periods.

"Sometimes it's necessary when everyone is telling you can't achieve something is to go ahead and do it," Mr Johnson said.

"That's what we've done with this [Brexit] deal, I'm very pleased with it. "

On Covid, Mr Johnson admitted it had been a "tough time for the country".

"If you say have I sometimes erred on the side of overall positivity, well, I've tried to keep everyone going and keep moving forward," he said.

However, the prime minister urged Britons not to let down their guard, as infection rates continue to remain high across the country.

"The situation is extremely difficult and extremely tough.

"The pressure on our hospitals and NHS is immense. That's why we've taken the measures that we have and we're doing everything we can to protect schools.

"There are still tough weeks, probably months, ahead for this country."

Despite his warning of difficult months ahead, he did end on a positive note.

"Am I succumbing to my optimistic bias? Yes, I do think things will be much better and this country will get through it, and I do think people have a great deal to look forward to."