England in last lockdown, but testing and vaccines to continue into 2022- health minister

England will not have to endure another COVID-19 lockdown but testing and vaccine programmes will be a feature of life into 2022, British health minister Matt Hancock said on Thursday.

"There's absolutely no doubt that vaccines and testing will still be a feature next year," Hancock told a parliamentary committee, adding it was uncertain how long immunity from vaccines would last but that there might need to be re-vaccination programmes every six to 12 months.

Asked if he foresaw the lockdown which began this week as the last one, Hancock said: "I do, yes."