The over-75s and those who are clinically vulnerable will be given a fourth coronavirus jab within weeks as ministers prepare to outline plans for Britain to live with Covid-19 in the long term.
Most Covid regulations, including those that mandate lockdowns and isolation, will be scrapped in what ministers will say tomorrow is a move away from government intervention towards personal responsibility.
However, the elderly and those who have immuno-suppressant conditions will be offered another booster vaccination within weeks. It is six months since many had their third jab last autumn.
Boris Johnson will confirm that all remaining regulations that restrict public freedoms will be repealed.
Instead, the “living with Covid” plan will make clear that Britain will continue to use vaccines and other drugs as a first line of defence.
Sources say future vaccination programmes will run in much the same way as annual flu jabs, which target the elderly and the vulnerable, and will step up only if there is a dangerous new variant. The government will retain some of the monitoring systems for tracking the coronavirus and some contingency measures, which could be “stood up” quickly if needed.
These will include the capacity to increase testing and quickly develop vaccinations for new variants.
Decisions about future booster campaigns will be taken by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations.
Two sets of regulations will be scrapped this week. The first will end the legal duty of self-isolation for those who test positive, and close contacts. The second will mean that local authorities will be required to manage outbreaks through planning and pre-existing public health powers, as they would with other diseases, rather than blanket lockdown rules on towns and cities.
The prime minister said: “Covid will not suddenly disappear, and we need to learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.
“We’ve built up strong protections against this virus over the past two years through the vaccine rollouts, tests, new treatments, and the best scientific understanding of what this virus can do.
“Thanks to our successful vaccination programme and the sheer magnitude of people who have come forward to be jabbed we are now in a position to set out our plan for living with Covid this week.”
Nearly 53 million people — or 91 per cent of the UK population — have had one vaccine dose, and nearly 49 million (85 per cent) have had a second jab. New treatments continue to be rolled out including antiviral drugs that significantly reduce the risk of severe disease or death.
