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Episode details

Radio 4,18 Feb 2021,29 mins

Out of Lockdown

The Briefing Room

Available for over a year

The prime minister is due to announce on Monday his plan for lifting the current lockdown in England. He says he wants progress to be cautious but irreversible. And he, like many, is saying that decisions on how and when to lift lockdown need to be driven by data not dates. So what are the risks, for example, in sending primary age children back to school? Of opening pubs? Of opening non-essential shops? To what extent would any of this be possible without the rollout of the vaccination programme? And why is vaccination alone not a magic bullet? With Professor Azra Ghani of Imperial College, London; Professor Stephen Reicher of St. Andrews University; and Dr. Mike Tildesley of Warwick University. Producers: Tim Mansel, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Jasper Corbett

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