Hugging could resume in time for summer
Social contact with those outside of household bubbles is expected to be deemed safe from June 21
HUGGING is expected to be given the green light by June 21, The Daily Telegraph understands, with hopes all over50s will have been offered both jabs by the time Covid restrictions are lifted.
Prof Jonathan Van-tam, the deputy chief medical officer, has urged the public to “hold the line a teeny bit longer” and avoid meetings indoors between people, even if they are fully vaccinated. The current timetable for easing of lockdown allows indoor visits and overnight stays from May 17.
The Government has promised to update its advice on social contact – including hugging those outside of household “bubbles” – by this date, following a review of social distancing.
But last night, a source said the expectation is that people would be able to resume full contact by June 21, by which time all over-50s may have been offered both jabs. Ministers have pledged that all adults should have been offered their first vaccine by the end of July, but there are hopes that the rollout of second jabs to all nine priority groups will be achieved a month before.
At a Downing Street briefing on Wednesday, Prof Van-tam said it was already “incredibly safe” for two fully vaccinated individuals to meet indoors, at least two weeks after their second jab.
But he urged those in this situation to continue to keep their distance, while ministers said the country would “move as one” when rules are relaxed.
A Government source said there was “no appetite” within Government for giving different advice to those who have been vaccinated about whether to hug, with such action seen as discriminatory to younger groups.
Instead, he said it was likely that everyone would be told that physical contact was deemed safe, on the basis that the most vulnerable had been vaccinated, breaking the links between infection and risks of hospitalisation and death.
He said: “From May 17 people will be able to meet indoors, and by June 21, we would expect that the vast majority – and hopefully all – those in priority groups one to nine (all over-50s) will have had both doses.”
“The thinking is that by this point people would be safe to hug, and that it then comes down to a matter of individual judgement,” he said.
Yesterday the Prime Minister’s official spokesman suggested that more information was needed before a decision was taken.
He highlighted points made by Prof Van-tam, who on Wednesday said further data was needed to establish exactly how well vaccines work in the frail and elderly.
Studies so far have shown that since the rollout began, tiny numbers of people have been hospitalised with Covid at least three weeks after vaccination, with a detailed study breaking this down by age group expected to be published today.
A Government source familiar with the social distancing review expressed optimism that many of the current restrictions will be lifted on June 21. The exact shape of the new rules is still being considered, with final decisions to be linked to future Covid data.
Yesterday Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said on the BBC’S Radio 4 Today programme that anyone booking tickets to festivals in July or August does so at their own risk.
A further 41 cases of rare blood clots in people who have taken the Astrazeneca jab have been detected, and a further nine deaths, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced. It means that the number of clots has risen 24 per cent and deaths 28 per cent over the last week. The risk of a clot is now nine in a million, up from 7.9 last week.