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LONDON， Feb。 5 （Xinhua） —— The British government should avoid “setting dates” for when to lift lockdown despite hopes that the coronavirus infection levels are falling due to vaccine rollout， a government advisory scientist said Friday。

Graham Medley， a member of the government‘s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies （SAGE）， said leaders should not be “driven by a calendar”。

The pandemic could still go in two directions， up or down， and “it’s up to the government to decide which of those paths it takes”， Medley told the BBC。

The scientist suggested a strategy of “adaptive management so you actually change the control of the epidemic as it goes along rather than setting dates。”

“To actually make decisions dependent on the circumstances， rather than being driven by a calendar of wanting to do things，” Medley said。

On Thursday， British vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi told lawmakers that almost nine in 10 over 80s and over 75s， and over half of people in their 70s， had been vaccinated in Britain。

Zahawi said Britain is “getting safer every day” as more people get coronavirus vaccines， but the infection level is still “alarmingly high”。

Nearly 10。5 million people in Britain have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine， according to the latest official figures。

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that Britain remains “on track” to complete the vaccination of the top priority groups， which cover 15 million people， by mid-February。 Britain aims to offer all adults their first dose by autumn。

England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country。 Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland， Wales and Northern Ireland。

To bring life back to normal， countries such as Britain， China， Germany， Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines。 Enditem