It seems to me that the U.K. handled this pandemic in 2020 like a dummy run. Now we have finally learnt our lesson from successful regions such as SE Asia and Australasia and are implementing policies such as
1) stricter enforcement of social distancing non-compliance
2) stricter enforcement of mask wearing
3) and unfortunately for us....the closing of international borders!
We have been far too lax in all of these areas so far.
Now herd immunity is our only way out. Even if we are all vaccinated by spring, I can’t see any countries opening up to us until they also have equal immunity.