Boris Johnson is set to repeal emergency lockdown laws under his Covid Winter Plan - relying on booster vaccines that could start in two weeks to protect Brits.
The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation is expected to give the go-ahead this week for the most vulnerable to have a third jab.
That will give the Prime Minister the all-clear to get doses in arms in a matter of days after that.
But the move comes as hospitals in some areas have started to cancel operations as Covid cases have already started to surge.
And tonight NHS experts warned extra pressures from the coronavirus could mean the UK’s record waiting lists could take seven years to clear.
Figures published this weekend reveal 8,085 people are in hospital with Covid – a six-month high. The number has gone up by 6% in a week and is at its highest since early March.
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But there are no plans for new lockdowns – and Boris Johnson will say vaccines are still our first line of defence, when he unveils his winter plan for managing Covid this week.
He will also abolish emergency powers that allowed police to detain infectious people and close businesses. And schools and colleges will no longer face being temporarily shut down.
Mr Johnson said: “These extraordinary times required necessary but intrusive measures.
“But I’m determined to get rid of any powers we no longer need.”
Under the plans, people who test positive for Covid will still be legally required to isolate.
Sick pay from the first day, rather than the seventh day, of isolation will continue to be paid. T
There are also contingency plans to bring back working from home and face masks in public if cases rise dramatically this winter.
The big worry is renewed pressure on the NHS if flu circulates alongside Covid. So the plan is to give flu jabs at the same time as the booster.
First in line will be care home residents, the over-70s, and the clinically vulnerable. But the under-50s will start being jabbed from December.
Despite the plan, non-essential ops have already been cancelled in Derbys, West Yorks, Hull, Stoke-on-Trent and Cornwall – where the infection spike is so high, the ambulance service has called on the Army for help.
In Scotland, surgeries have been scaled back in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Highland, Fife, Ayrshire & Arran and Borders.
Independent SAGE’s Professor Anthony Costello warned a Covid crisis will add to waiting lists, which this week reached a record 5.6million.
NHS Confederation chief Matthew Taylor painted an even bleaker picture. He said: “If Covid were to disappear and we weren’t to face any other disease, it’s reasonable to hope the NHS could get back to normal in three years.
“But if Covid stays, we could be facing a backlog of six to seven years.
“The funding is just not there. Waiting lists will continue to grow.
“We’ve got to keep a very, very careful eye on this – the health service is running at full capacity."