My understanding of the roadmap generally is that it is not going to have a bunch of fixed dates. I understand there will be some "no earlier than" and probably some more general statements. My hunch is that BJ does not want to prohibit summer holidays. Popular support for full border closure will wain and it puts the large number of expats in England and London in a quite difficult position in terms of continued time away from family etc. I think he wants to allow it if its generally safe and I think his statement a week to 10 days ago about being "optimistic" is likely the "clearer" view that we will get. That's my thinking. Hopefully not overly optimistic.

Some reports suggest 5 stages with four week gaps. If stage 1 is schools on March 8, that would push the last stage to the end of June. Given the promise of clarity, one could potentially surmise worst case (if the dates hold) is international travel restrictions lifting is stage 5. All UK adults should have had at least one dose by then as well.