A YORK MP says the best way to safely relax restrictions is to set levels of vaccine delivery, rather than dates.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy believes that rather than setting a firm date, "given the grave situation and the fact the new strain is both more infectious and more deadly than the original," the government should specify more clearly the level of vaccination of the vulnerable at which the end of lockdown and return to tiers could be considered.

Mr Sturdy said he suggested this to Boris Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions recently, with a trigger-point at which we could safely begin a phased relaxation of controls. He said Mr Johnson confirmed restrictions will all be re-examined once the top four priority groups are covered by mid-February, "a target which York is well on track to meet."

"Mercifully, enduring lockdown and tiered restrictions are now different as we are now rapidly rolling out the virus cure, and no longer just hoping something will turn up, so I think any return to tiers has to come on the basis of achieving vaccine rollout, rather than pencilling in ‘March’ or ‘Easter’," Mr Sturdy said.

He added: "The best way to safely escape towards normality is to set levels of vaccine delivery, rather than dates.”

York Central MP Rachael Maskell said there are many lessons to be learnt from the last easement of the lockdown.

She commented: "I consistently warned Government that their plans would lead to a sharp rise in infection, yet they continued.

"We currently have a significantly high infection rate, so it is vital that everyone continues to make the extraordinary efforts to protect themselves and others by following the hand-face-space guidance and to isolate if required to.

"As I raised in Parliament last week, reiterated by Jonathan Van Tan, the deputy chief medical officer at the weekend, it is vital that people understand that the vaccine only provides partial protection, so even after to injections, that they will need to continue with all precautions. In the light that most people in the highest risk categories will not be vaccinated with two injections until mid-May, this means that there is still a long way to go in fighting this virus.

"However, when we do emerge from this lockdown, it is vital that every measure taken prevents infection risk."

Ms Maskell said new variants of Covid are circulating, and the virus could mutate again.

"Therefore I would encourage a cautious approach, but call on the chancellor to put the necessary support in place to see businesses through this season," she said.

"There are two key issues which I do question. Firstly, if there is a system which uses tiers, we know that people travel from one with high restrictions to one with lower restrictions, so would argue that this does not work, and clearly seeded the virus in York before Christmas. Labour has never supported the tier system approach.

"Secondly, I question the rule of six. If six different people are sat together (not socially distanced) which they have not been, then this has resulted in infection passing between people; because it has been allowed, does not mean it is safe. I am asking further questions of Government about this."