Boris Johnson today warned that Covid restrictions such as vaccine passports will be 'kept in reserve' in case of a winter surge - as experts said the UK must learn to 'accept' 100 deaths a day.
As he prepares to unveil his blueprint for coping with an expected seasonal surge tomorrow, the PM insisted he is 'confident' that lockdown can be avoided even though drastic action cannot be ruled out.
He stressed the importance of booster jabs – starting with the elderly and most-vulnerable – to steer the country clear of any further shutdowns. Medics are also expected to give the go ahead for 12-15 year olds to be vaccinated.
Mr Johnson is shelving the idea of Covid passports for nightclubs and major events for now in the face of Tory fury, while travel restrictions will also be overhauled to ditch the traffic light system and costly PCR tests.
Many of the draconian powers taken by the government at the start of the crisis will also be scrapped as the premier tries to restore his libertarian credentials.
However, masks and ordering people to work from home will be kept in the 'toolbox' of measures that can be deployed.
Visiting a British Gas training academy with Chancellor Rishi Sunak today, Mr Johnson was pushed on whether he could rule out any more lockdowns. 'We've got to do everything that's right to protect the country,' he said.
'But the way things are going at the moment we're very confident in the steps that we've taken.
He went on: 'What we want to do is avoid vaccine passports, if we possibly can.
'That's the course we're on but I think you've got to be prudent and you've got to keep things in reserve in case things change.'
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Prof Ferguson said the level of immunity now present in the UK population meant that tackling a surge in transmission might not 'require full lockdown'.
He said the effect of not going ahead with vaccine passports in England - although they are being introduced in Scotland from October 1 - 'won't be huge'.
Meanwhile, Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and director of the Wellcome Trust, has urged an 'honest debate' about the trade-offs between opening up society and victims of the disease.
'Politicians across the world are sort of pretending you can have your cake and eat it: 'You can have zero deaths, no control measures, vaccinate if you want to or not vaccinate and it will all end.' I just don't think that's realistic,' he reportedly told the German podcast Pandemia.
'I think [in the UK] around a hundred deaths a day, throughout the year, 30,000 deaths a year, in the current situation with the current vaccines, current treatments, current capacity within the system, I think is a level that would have to in the end be acceptable.'
Boris Johnson (pictured visiting a British Gas training academy today) warned that Covid restrictions such as vaccine passports will be 'kept in reserve' in case of a winter surge
Prof Neil Ferguson said the level of immunity now present in the UK population meant that tackling a surge in transmission might not 'require full lockdown'. Rishi Sunak (right) was on a visit with the PM this morning
Visiting a British Gas training academy with Chancellor Rishi Sunak (right) today, Boris Johnson (left) was pushed on whether he could rule out any more lockdowns. 'We've got to do everything that's right to protect the country,' he said.
Plans for vaccine passports for nightclubs and major events were sensationally scrapped yesterday - much to the delight of hospitality chiefs - but they could be brought back
No 10 said another lockdown over winter would only be considered as a 'last resort'.
Asked whether ministers would consider a winter lockdown if Covid-19 cases rise, the Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: 'We are in a very different place than where we were previously when other lockdowns were introduced, thanks to the success of our vaccine programme and other things like therapeutics treatments for coronavirus.
'We would only ever consider those sort of measures as a last resort and we will set out in more detail tomorrow what our approach will be should we see a significant increase in cases.
'It is thanks to the fences built up through our vaccine programme that we are in a very different position and we are not seeing the sort of substantial increases that some feared once we moved to Step 4 of our road map.'
Downing Street also said there was 'no question' of having to introduce regional lockdowns on current Covid-19 levels.
The spokesman said: 'We are not seeing anything that suggests our NHS is about to be overwhelmed so there is no question of using those measures at the moment.'
In a round of interviews this morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey suggested the work from home guidance could return under plans to combat a possible surge in coronavirus during the winter.
She told BBC Breakfast that some options such as more home working and paying statutory sick pay from day one rather than day four, were still on the table.
'These are the sensible measures I think that we're going to keep,' she said.
Asked about masks, she said: The Prime Minister will be setting out the Covid winter plan tomorrow. I think my approach, and I see that with a lot of employers organisations, is about having a situation-specific approach.'
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said yesterday that vaccine passports would not be introduced this month, after a revolt by Tory MPs and business leaders.
But Mr Coffey stressed they have not been 'ruled out forever'.
She told BBC Breakfast: 'As Sajid Javid set out yesterday, although the formal decision is still to be made, but having reflected and looked at the details of the proposal that it's not deemed necessary at this moment in time.
'But they haven't been ruled out forever. It's reflecting the fact that a lot of young people have come forward and got their vaccinations over the summer.'
Ministers believe the plan is sufficient to all-but rule out any national lockdowns - which Mr Johnson is said to be 'dead set' against.
Mr Javid said yesterday that he was 'not anticipating' any more lockdowns, saying 'I just don't see how we get to another one (lockdown).'
But he left the door open for the toughest of restrictions, saying it would be 'irresponsible to take everything off the table'.
In an early glimmer of hope for the holiday season, the Health Secretary suggested that families would be able to spend Christmas together this year - after celebrations were dramatically cut short in 2020 due to the spread of the Kent variant.
The announcements – set to be unveiled at a press conference tomorrow and to MPs before the Commons rises on Wednesday – come after a week of frenzied speculation about the conditions that would be imposed on Britons as the country 'lives with Covid' this winter.
The plan will warn that vaccine passports could be required if the NHS faces being overwhelmed.
It will set out details of when and how passports could be introduced, and will warn that other restrictions, such as mandatory mask-wearing, may have to be reintroduced if the pandemic continues.
Changes such as compulsory home working and reintroducing social-distancing are not being ruled out.
Third doses of the jab are to be rolled out in autumn in a similar way to the first vaccine drive - starting with the most elderly and vulnerable.
The Government will also launch a massive 'flu shot blitz' which will be supported by a large-scale advertising campaign urging people to get both jabs, the Sun adds.
Children aged 12-15 are expected to be offered a single Covid shot,
