BE OVER BY, ER, SPRING

Boris pins hopes on Covid vaccine

PM Boris Johnson claimed last night that technological advances might “defeat this virus by the spring”.

The Conservative leader is trying to stop a growing rebellion in his own party over the new national lockdown for England.

He hailed “virtually instant” Covid- 19 tests and claimed there is a “real prospect” of a vaccine in the first quarter of next year.

Mr Johnson said: “I believe that these technical developments, taken together, will enable us to defeat this virus by the spring as humanity has defeated every other infectious disease.”

The embattled PM faces a rebellion from a number of senior Tory backbench MPS, who say they will oppose the new lockdown during a vote tomorrow.

Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential 1922 Committee, said: “If these kinds of measures were being taken in any totalitarian country around the world, we would be denouncing it as a form of evil.”

However, Labour is poised to back the measures, meaning the Government is likely to win.

And Mr Johnson insisted the lockdown, if approved by MPS, would automatically expire next month when he would give them a fresh vote on any new measures.

He warned “without action” there may be twice as many deaths in the winter as in the first wave, meaning there is “no alternative” but another national lockdown.

But one scientist advising the Government’s coronavirus response claimed thousands more lives would have been saved if the PM had imposed a short lockdown when it was recommended in September.

Professor Andrew Hayward claimed it would also have “inflicted substantially less damage” to the economy than the new lockdown for England, which will begin on Thursday. Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has extended the furlough scheme throughout the second lockdown, said the selfemployed would be able to claim increased state aid of up to 80% of profits during the period as pubs, restaurants and non- essential shops are ordered to close.

A further 23,254 people tested positive for coronavirus as of Sunday, while another 162 deaths were reported in the UK.