UK's Boris Johnson will focus on booster shots in Covid winter plan

Prime minister wants to avoid future lockdowns in England

Boris Johnson wants to avoid future lockdowns and focus on booster vaccinations in the coming months.

Boris Johnson is due to set out the Government's plan to tackle coronavirus over the coming months, with a reluctance to impose further lockdowns and a focus on vaccination.

The Prime Minister will host a press conference on Tuesday, as a decision is expected on how to roll out a booster jab programme.

Mr Johnson is expected to say that vaccines will continue to be the first line of defence over the autumn and winter, a high-risk time for coronavirus as other respiratory illnesses circulate.

And in a move away from locking down the country, a number of powers allowing the Government to shut down sections of the economy in England are set to be repealed.

Mr Johnson said: "Thanks to the efforts of the public, the NHS and our phenomenal vaccination programme, we reached Step 4 in our road map and life has returned to a sense of normality.

"These extraordinary times required necessary but intrusive measures. But I'm determined to get rid of any powers we no longer need because of our vaccine defences.

"I will set out the next phase in our Covid response shortly."

The powers expected to be repealed under the Coronavirus Act include those allowing the closing down of the economy, the imposing of restrictions on events and gatherings, the power to temporarily close or restrict access to schools, and powers to detain infectious people.

The Government also expects the independent Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) to recommend details of a jab booster programme next week.

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  Relatives embrace as they arrive from the US at Heathrow's Terminal 5 in west London.

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  A mother embraces her son as he arrives from the US at Heathrow. People fully vaccinated in the US and EU, except France, can now travel to England without having to quarantine on arrival.

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  Families reunite as they arrive from the US at Heathrow.

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  Relatives embrace as they arrive from the United States at Heathrow's Terminal 5.

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  Mothers Debbie Greaves, center, and Karen Tyler, right, who don't know each other, wait to greet their sons arriving on different flights at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport.

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  Circus lighting technician Ryan Dobie receives a vaccination as circus performers look on at a new ‘Pop Up’ vaccination centre in the Big Top of Circus Extreme in Shibden Park in Halifax.

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  Dr Lisa Pickles, clinical lead for the local vaccination program, prepares a syringe at the Big Top of Circus Extreme vaccination clinic.

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  Travellers exit from an arrivals gate at St Pancras International station following the arrival of a Eurostar train from Paris, in London.

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  An NHS worker prepares for patients at a pop-up vaccination centre during a four-day Covid-19 vaccine festival in Langdon Park, east London.

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  A person receives a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the Central Middlesex Hospital in London.

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  A health worker wears a mask which bears a slogan asking for fair pay for nurses during a demonstration about pay in the UK's National Health Service, in London.

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  Gardener Gemma Hearn making a final trim of the Hampton Court Maze before it reopens to the public at Hampton Court Palace, in south-west London.

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  Customers queue for the London Eye attraction on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London.

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  An NHS public health message in view of Westminster Abbey in London.

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  A shopper wearing a face covering crosses the street at Oxford Circus in London.

There are plans in place to begin giving booster jabs to the most vulnerable as early as this month.

However, Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, whose team developed the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, said on Friday that he believes the priority should be to donate vaccines to countries where people are still awaiting a first dose.

His views have been echoed by his Oxford colleague Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, who helped design the vaccine, and who said booster jabs may not be needed by everyone.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Thursday that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs are safe to use as boosters, but the JCVI has yet to give its advice to ministers.

The JCVI has already said a third dose should be offered to people with severely weakened immune systems.Several other countries, including the US, Israel, Hungary, Germany and France, have announced or have started third dose programmes for at least some of their citizens.

The UK's chief medical officers are also drawing up advice to Government on whether children aged 12 to 15 should be vaccinated after the JCVI said the margin of benefit from vaccinating healthy children was too small to say they should receive a jab.

The focus on vaccination comes after reports that ministers were considering a so-called firebreak lockdown in October.

The i newspaper reported an unnamed member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) saying a "precautionary break" could be part of "contingency plans".

But Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "I don't think that's something we need to consider."

He said no decisions are "risk-free" but insisted the "best defence" against another wave of the virus is the vaccine programme.

A No 10 spokesman previously said it is not true that the Government is planning a lockdown or firebreak around the October half-term, but added that they have "retained contingency plans as part of responsible planning for a range of scenarios".

They said: "These kind of measures would only be reintroduced as a last resort to prevent unsustainable pressure on our NHS."