Exactly: and I have no argument with her wider message. But it was foolish, irresponsible, and a tad insensitive, to introduce the idea that the pandemic is over for the UK while the rest of the world continues to be ravaged by the disease.

Words are important, and careless use encourages smugness, while emboldening those domestic claques calling for an accelerated lifting of restrictions.

We are gaining a measure of respite from our domestic epidemic, that's all. It's a log haul. Very clearly the pandemic isn't over: the misery surging in India makes that clear.

You see?

No issue with variants.

​​​​​​https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/8...3499b5f44459cf

It's certainly not the UK's fault India is behind in vaccinations and is having a hard time of it. It is not smugness, it's just celebrating the achievement of the UK.
In Israel 0 deaths for 2 days in a row now, the pandemic is most definitely over there as well!

To suggest that the pandemic is over and that we are now dealing only with a manageable endemic virus is foolish. The UK is in a very good position, but the virus is still raging elsewhere in the world and the risk of dangerous new variants emerging is significant. All it takes is one vaccine-evading variant to find its way to these shores and we are back to square 1 almost overnight.

I'd like to see a further opening of the domestic economy and continuing tight controls on travel. I miss museums, theatres and restaurants more than I do foreign holidays.

there are no issues with variants just ‘concerns’ and travel depends on other countries more than us, hence traffic light system. even saying masks will be lifted soon, I’m sure many people will be happy with that.

things look very manageable in the UK right now.

Indeed they do look very encouraging.

But let’s not forget what some people were saying a year ago
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32564418-post86.html

Lol. You seem to have too much time on your hands.

Things are starting to look a bit more promising in the UK but I still think we have a way to go before things go back to normal. I'm not thinking of coming back yet.

Looking at it from the outside, it looks like the UK is in an excellent place now. The difference, of course, is the vaccine and Britain’s somewhat risky bet on the delayed second dose. I wouldn’t say “back to normal,” but maybe at the new normal. I would (selfishly, I know) love to see them start allowing vaccinated foreign visitors as part of the upcoming road map stages.

I think the key is to only admit vaccinated foreigners. We have already seen how porous testing regimes are with this virus, so every incentive must be given for vaccinating. As an American, I’m shocked at how feeble the vaccination effort has been in Western Europe, though, and hope they are able to ramp up soon.

The UK took a bit of a gamble, but there was very good scientific evidence that delaying the second dose, particularly of the AZ vaccine, would not affect its efficacy. The astonishing fall in hospitalisations and deaths in the UK, even compared with countries such as the US that also have very efficient vaccination programmes, indicates that the strategy was the right one.

I’m not sure more vaccine nationalism is the answer. Vaccines should be made available to at risk groups first, regardless of where they live in the world.

The absurd situation of J&J being manufactured in the EU and exported to the US for bottling and then banned for export back out certainly leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. The knee jerk reaction is to fight fire with fire and reciprocate with restrictions, but I’m comfortable with the EU compromise to limit exports to countries with higher vaccination rates but to continue to export to those most in need.

The key to success is reducing infections globally, travel corridors and the like will do very little other than provide short-term comfort, as the short lived trans-Tasman corridor is proving.

Daily data:

Cases 2,061 (2,206 last Saturday)
Deaths 32 (35)
Patients admitted 132 (280 on the 13th)
Patients on ventilator 243 (332 on the 16th)
Patients in hospital 1,781 (2,190 on the 15th)
People vaccinated up to and including 23 April 2021
First dose: 33,508,590
Second dose: 12,071,810

The rolling seven day daily average is down 2.8% on the previous week. Though the fall in cases has stalled for a few days, the hospital data is showing continued and significant improvement.

I certainly didn’t mean to suggest “vaccine nationalism!” Rather, I was thinking of something more akin to the Yellow Fever requirements. I agree with you on the need for vaccinating at risk people everywhere, and I’m particularly appalled by reports of my country sitting on some 30 million AZ doses. The US will likely be awash in vaccine by the time it is approved here, and meanwhile it can save lives.

I don't think that the quarantine requirements will differ for vaccinated people, at least until the June review, and only if every adult in the UK has been offered a vaccine.

Imagine it from a 20yo's point of view: you're at relative low risk, you've been locked down for over a year to protect your elders, and you're last to get a vaccine. If people in their 50s are now free to roam Europe with no quarantine on return, but that 20yo isn't for lack of a vaccine opportunity, it's the last time they're following any covid guidance.