Vaccine boosts UK optimism

Normality within six months says one quarter of UK adults

VACCINE announcements have helped boost the proportion of people who think life will soon be back to normal. Approval of the Pfizer/ Biontech vaccine helped push the proportion of people who think everything will be over in six months or less to its highest levels since the summer, according to a recent ONS survey.

However, a rapid rise in cases and a looming new lockdown put a dent in people’s optimism.

The weekly survey tracks the social impacts of COVID-19 on the UK population.

Before the Oxford-astrazeneca vaccine approval announcement on December 30, optimism that life would return back to normal within six months was decreasing

Come January, and almost one quarter of the UK population think it will - a rise of two percentage points since December 20.

While not a huge increase, it is the first time since November that optimism for the six month mark has seen an upward trend.

In contrast to the Pfizer/ Biontech vaccine - approved for use in the UK on December 2 which must be kept at a temperature of about -70C, the Oxford-astrazeneca vaccine can be stored at normal fridge temperature. Therefore, its distribution should be logistically easier.

Nearly four million people had received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot in the first six weeks of the vaccination programme.

Governments across the UK aim to vaccinate “tens of millions of people” by spring. It is expected to take until spring to give a first dose to all 32 million of the UK’S most vulnerable groups, including those over the age of 50.

The survey also showed an increase in the proportion of people who stated they are likely or highly likely to have a vaccine - 85 per cent of people in the most recent weeks, compared to 78 per cent in middecember.

On the vaccination plan, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Our

UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan maps our route back to normality, but it does not mean we can be complacent and it is mission critical that everybody abides by the restrictions in the coming weeks.”

National lockdowns have been in place throughout most of the UK, with lockdown rules also covering almost all of Scotland, since latedecember/early January in response to a new COVID-19 variant which is thought to be 50 to 70 per cent more transmissible.

These lockdowns are set to be reviewed in mid-february.

While people are increasingly likely to feel things are on track to get back to normal, a fifth of people (20 per cent) are still reluctant to believe the UK will be back to normal within a year. However, this number has also declined since the vaccine news.

The most popular prediction is that life will be back to normal in seven to 12 months.