The UK could reach Covid herd immunity by July with life returning to "close to normal" by mid summer, a top scientist has claimed.
Covid-19 vaccination is having an effect on cutting cases and death rates, with things looking optimistic for the summer months, Professor Karl Friston of University College London (UCL) has said.
Modelling by UCL researchers suggests the reproduction number (the R) for coronavirus was 0.75 on February 2, which means the epidemic is shrinking.
That's according to experts from Professor Fiston's university, who say the third national lockdown has got the R rate down to the lowest it has been since the first.