Sir Mark Walport, who used to do Sir Patrick Vallance's job as the UK's chief scientific adviser, said it is not yet safe for people to have physical contact with loved ones. But Sir Mark, who now runs the UK Research and Innovation department and sits on SAGE, said there is 'still quite a lot of infection about'. Sir Mark said there is confidence because cases are coming down, but if they were at this level and rising experts would be worried. Sir Mark cautioned that there are still around 37million people who haven't had a jab and that it wasn't yet safe to let the virus go. Even vaccinated people should be careful about hugging, Sir Mark said, suggesting it wasn't a good idea for grandparents to embrace their families.

Source: Daily Mail March 29, 2021 11:55 UTC