Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of when progress on the covid-19 vaccine programme could make it safe to start lifting general covid-19 restrictions.

Over 6.5 million people in the United Kingdom have now received their first dose of the vaccine.

However, we need to understand the full impact the vaccines have on infection rates and transmission rates, which will become clearer as more people receive their vaccination. As this evidence is gathered and analysed, we will gain a greater understanding of infection rates, hospitalisation and reduced deaths and if successful, this should lead to a reassessment of current restrictions.