No reason to slow restrictions easing

Sir, – In the UK, we have seen a successful vaccination programme with all elderly and vulnerable individuals now fully vaccinated, and this we were told would be the key to restrictions being fully lifted. If this is the case, why is it each time there is a new variant which results in an increase of positive tests, the message from government is that this may impact the lifting of restrictions?

What has been apparent is that there will indeed be new variants of the virus, but this is something we are going to have to live with – we cannot continue in endless lockdown measures. The latest Indian variant, now known as the delta variant, has not resulted in increased hospital admissions and deaths. Indeed, some of those hospitalised are individuals who chose not to have the vaccination and that was their choice to make but it should not be a reason to lift restrictions at a slower pace.

At the forefront of any decisions should be the impact to the economy and individuals’ livelihoods, as we currently have many businesses still haemorrhaging cash with little income to offset these costs. With that in mind, there needs to be a clear freedom day in June where all restrictions are lifted including social distancing and masks, with the onus of responsibility on the individual to decide what they want to do, not the government.

Mhairi E Rennie, Finlayson Street, Fraserburgh.