Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, said the measures would remain in place while other countries complete their vaccination programs, a process likely to take years.

"People have got used to those lower-level restrictions now, and people can live with them, and the economy can still go on with those less severe restrictions in place," said Ramsay.

"So I think certainly for a few years, at least until other parts of the world are as well vaccinated as we are, and the numbers have come down everywhere, that is when we may be able to go very gradually back to a more normal situation," she added.

The doctor said that so long as people continue to be infected, the rules won't be abolished.

Ramsay's comments once again highlight the fact that the plan never was to get "back to normal."

Now that Brits have allowed society to be permanently deformed, with polls routinely showing vehement support for lockdown and other pandemic rules, things are never going to be the same again.

Having allowed the precedent that the government can put the entire population under de facto house arrest on a whim, look for the policy to be repeated over and over again with different justifications that have nothing to do with COVID-19.

As we highlighted earlier this month, one of those justifications will be man-made global warming, with climate lockdowns set to become a regular reality.