‘A long way to go’ before face masks and social distancing ditched, says vaccine chief Bedford News

The head of the University of Oxford vaccination group said that although he believes there will be an end to social distancing and the wearing of face masks in the future, there is still a “long way to go. to browse”.

Lockdown restrictions continue to ease across the UK, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson set to outline the next step in England’s roadmap on Monday 10 May.

However, Professor Andrew Pollard said given the current global wave of Covid-19, some restrictions are expected to remain in place for some time.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Professor Andrew Pollard said: “I think there is a future without social distancing and without more masks, but from a global perspective we are still there. far.

“Here in the UK we have had remarkable success with the immunization program and it is getting closer, but from a global perspective there is so much way to go.”

Asked about his views on waiving US patents on virus vaccines, Prof Pollard said, “I think it’s an absolutely laudable concept to have a waiver of intellectual property rights to allow more great use of vaccines around the world.

“There is clearly already a political debate on this and there will be commercial interests at stake.”

Professor Pollard also said there was “huge effort” to be made to allow more manufacturers to produce the vaccine.

He said: “It will take the rest of this year before we start to see large amounts of production.”