The question of coherence (or a lack of it) is at the heart of the govt’s Covid problems right now. Freedom day with pinging still in place. Fully vaccinated in isolation but unvaccinated with full freedom. Domestic restrictions laissez faire yet tough intl travel rules.
It feels as if government is willing us to move to a new stage with much of the old apparatus still in place and without much sketched out in terms of a new system which will enable us to “live with it” as ministers say they want. We’re neither in one place nor the other.
The place we’re in is high vaccination plus high prevalence which has clearly taken ministers but surprise as a result of Delta. But that means it is v difficult if not impossible to, as ministers want, to move the dial back to something “normal” w/o a new plan in place.
Example is schools. Bubbles end tomorrow. But with no vaccination of kids on the horizon how is that going to work in September? Schools are already plagued by absences, some even closing early for summer. What happens in winter?
Some rules of course are changing in August (ie on self isolation for vaccination)- as today’s problems have shown though, that feels a long way away. Suspect pressure will grow from Tory backbenches to bring that forward.
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