Guido understands the Covid Recovery Group have privately demanded of Government ministers that there must be a ‘roll back as we roll out’ plan. The roadmap would see new freedoms guaranteed as each new vaccination milestone was hit. The first, as the Government has already announced, would be re-opening schools once the 13.9 million most vulnerable people have been vaccinated. What is not yet clear, and what no commitments have been made towards, is how many millions more must be vaccinated in order to move further down the wind down.

Guido hears ideas floating around include competition between regions to race down the tiers once lockdown ends, with numerical vaccine targets unlocking each new level. Phase 1 of the vaccine distribution plan covers 32 million people who represent 99% of Covid deaths. Once they have been vaccinated, things must return to normal.

As this week’s influential Adam Smith Institute paper says, the UK’s target of two million doses per week only completes Phase 1 by May 2021. By matching Israel and delivering six million on the other hand, Phase 1 would be completed “by the end of February“. Six million a week would take the UK up to almost 50 million doses in just eight weeks, something ASI paper author Jonathon Kitson wrote will mean “we could finally treat coronavirus just like we treat seasonal flu.” Bring it on.