Without going into OMNI territory, maybe the issue is that there's no one else to replace them. To borrow from football, it doesn't seem to me that the bench on Boris FC is that deep.

I don't think there is a bench lol.

This is an argument you're not going to win with logic :D

I know it's a tough one to grasp, but maybe the reasoning behind the restriction is to prevent you inadvertently carrying infection from one household (yours) to another (your sister's).

An update on vaccines, as per the BBC, we are 4.61 million people as of yesterday. Matt Hancock said: "We're giving 200 vaccinations every minute". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55748645

200 vaccines per minute means 288k per day. To reach the 15 million target by 15th Feb, from now we need to be at approx. 385k per day, so we are way off. I'm not sure how the government is going to increase the speed by an extra 30-40% in the next 4 weeks.

I think the issue is more that the supply of Pfizer has diminished temporarily and Astra is taking too long to ramp up to full supply. I get the impression that the organisation is in place to vaccinate more if only we had the supply.

This is the classic debate we've been having for more than a year now. The scientists are meant to advise on science and the government is meant to choose policies on a cost-benefit analysis. The government has failed to come up with a cost-benefit analysis and therefore has no defences against scientists who say that we should stop all economic activity because xx more people might die of COVID. They are not even asked how many more people's deaths are accelerated by lockdown and asked to balance that number, let alone asked to consider all the people whose life chances are being ruined.

But, getting back to quarantine, the argument is something like:
we don't know if there might be a vaccine-resistant strain which, if imported, will undo all the good work on vaccination - therefore we have to keep COVID out at all costs
But this argument will apply from now until forever - there is no roadmap out of that argument and so, if imposed, it will be next to impossible to get rid of the requirement unless people are willing to accept some risk.

I think it is possibly a supply issue, but we have previously been told by Matt Hancock we have no supply issues to the 15 million point. I just want the government to come out and be honest about what we have, be honest about how we are going and give us some idea what the roadmap out of this lockdown is.

At the moment, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and this makes people think there is no point in adhering to the rules because we have no idea when things will improve.

Remember that government ministers always use the wording that the 4 priority groups will be offered the vaccine by mid-Feb. They no doubt realised that the availability of supply of vaccine is not something they can directly control so the wording that they used gives the wriggle room that invites have been sent out but the bookings are in the latter half of Feb. It also has to be offered because the vaccine is not compulsory and no one will be mandated to have it.

It seems the media is a bit confused.
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-covid-...xygen-12192114

On the same page Sky News says lockdown not working, but also happens to say cases falling everywhere. Then Imperial (the most notorious of the pro lockdowners) saying cases not falling. Same with the 'hotel quarantine'. Looks like the media is begging for it, and as said above, some ppl in government trying to manipulate the government into doing so by releasing articles saying 'sources discussing hotel quarantine measures'. Of course they are discussing it! If it was up to some people, we would be in lockdown forever. The question is, will it ever be implemented and how.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b41f04003.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f0aa5fef1.jpeg

so which is it? working or not working?

Hotel quarantine? That will kill all travel.....nice going England!

this suggests the UK would no longer have their “Test to Release” program.

Redacted

Personally, I’m holding thumbs and crossing my fingers that our family can fly over in mid-March to visit schools our son got into for fall 2021. We will rely on the test to release program and follow all protocols. It’s encouraging to read here that numbers are dropping as a result of your lockdown.

It appears as though numbers are dropping - but the rate of decline is not that quick. Deaths and hospitalizations are through the roof however, and climbing.

Unfortunately if I were you I would prepare for a 10-day quarantine at your point of arrival in the UK, as I think there is almost zero chance of our current lockdown being eased in any way before April, and a very, very, slim chance before June/July.