But he would not rule out taking tougher measures if necessary - and said no decision would be taken about lifting final restrictions until June 14. A new variants spiralling out of control is one of the Government's key tests for lifting lockdown, he said. (Image: Sky)"Because of the speed of transmission of this one, it can really spread like wildfire amongst the unvaccinated groups, hence we need to get as many people vaccinated as possible," Mr Hancock said. Mr Hancock said early data from Oxford University labs offered a degree of confidence that the jabs work against the new variant, but warned it was "clearly more transmissible". But Mr Hancock did not rule out reversing the changes if the Indian variant proves to be very highly transmissible.

Source: Daily Mirror May 16, 2021 08:09 UTC