- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is "confident" that the Covid-19 safety restrictions will be eased by July 19.
- Millions of people still have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, Johnson said.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK is delaying lifting Covid-19 restrictions until more people get vaccinated against the virus.
He said at a press briefing on Monday that the restrictions will be in place until at least July 19. The restrictions were due to be lifted on June 21, but reopening has now been pushed back by four weeks.
"I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer," Johnson said, explaining that by July 19 "we will aim to have double jabbed around two-thirds of the adult population."
Johnson noted there are still millions of young adults who have not yet been inoculated against the coronavirus.
The delta Covid-19 variant, which was first identified in India, also remains a cause of concern as it continues to spread in the UK, Johnson said.
"We're seeing cases growing by about 64 percent per week and in the worst affected areas, it's doubling every week and the average number of people being admitted to a hospital in England has increased 50 percent week on week," Johnson said.
Johnson said that he is "confident" that the Covid-19 safety restrictions will be eased by July 19.
"It's unmistakably clear the vaccines are working and the sheer scale of the vaccine rollout has made our position incomparably better than in previous waves," said Johnson
He added, "But now is the time to ease off the accelerator because by being cautious now we have the chance in the next four weeks to save many thousands of lives by vaccinating millions more people."
Additionally, Johnson announced that the 30-guest cap on weddings and funerals will be lifted on June 21 so long as social distancing rules are followed.
Capacity limitations on venues like cinemas will remain in place.
Young adults aged 23 and 24 in England will be able to get the coronavirus vaccine starting Tuesday, Johnson said.
Data shows that 41.7 million people in the UK have received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and of those 30 million have received a second dose.
