We’ll still be in face masks next winter, says Dr Doom

FaCe masks and social distancing could be with us until the summer despite the vaccine breakthrough, it was suggested yesterday.

a minister said the measures are likely to be in place in some situations until June at the earliest.

and in a separate warning, sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, said the public may still be wearing masks next winter if the jab does not prevent transmission.

Justice secretary robert Buckland told MPs that under ‘current assumptions’ the requirements for mask-wearing and keeping 6ft away from others indoors will remain in force until summer.

Mr Buckland was referring specifically to rules in the courts, but it was the first official indication of how long the Government expects social distancing to be in place.

sir Patrick meanwhile struck a downbeat tone with his suggestion masks will remain necessary. The man who has been nicknamed ‘Dr Doom’ over his gloomy coronavirus predictions, suggested that, while the vaccine rollout made it a ‘tremendous day’, the UK was unlikely to get back to normal before april and precautions such as face masks could be needed for far longer.

He told sky News: ‘It may be that next winter even with vaccination we need measures like masks in place – we don’t know yet how good all the vaccines are going to be at preventing the transmission of the virus.’

although the Pfizer vaccine was found to be 95 per cent effective in stopping symptoms of coronavirus, it is still not known whether it also stops the spread of the virus. This could mean it only offers protection to those who have it, rather than the wider population, experts say.

sir Patrick said it will take at least a month before anyone will see full immunity from the vaccine, which is given in two doses 21 days apart and takes a further week for maximum immunity to kick in.

He warned the Christmas bubbles, allowing up to three families to mix indoors between December 23 and 27, meant cases would inevitably rise again in the New Year. In the meantime, he said, it is vital people continue to follow social-distancing rules.

‘It’s going to take quite a long time to get the vaccines out very widely,’ he added.

‘I would anticipate that if the vaccines arrive, and if the astraZeneca vaccine gets approved, that you start to see enough people having been vaccinated in spring some time to start thinking, “yes this is returning towards normal”.

‘But when it becomes completely normal, and completely normal across the whole world, is going to take longer.’