“The Government must see that it’s only right that existing bookings for the oldest and most vulnerable members of our society are honoured, and it must also as soon as possible publish a scientifically-validated justification for its new approach.”
The UK has recorded 50,023 new Covid-19 infections and a further 981 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, official figures show.
An additional 20 million people will moved to the highest tier. This means a total of 44 million people will now be in Tier 4, or 78 per cent of the population of England.
Experts said the focus should be on giving at-risk people the first dose of whichever vaccine they receive.
Researchers say the UK will have to ramp up vaccinations by a factor of 10 to support much relaxation of any of the control measures.
"But, of course, we are only listening to one type of scientist" she added.
The figures compare to yesterday’s increase of 41,385 confirmed coronavirus cases, and 357 virus-related deaths.
The reason for the change of plan is concerns over Covid rates, although such worries have been seemingly ignored elsewhere.
Paramedics in the capital are currently receiving almost 8,000 call-outs daily.