The UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid told British Broadcaster Sky News that COVID-19 wasn’t going away and that people might need annual vaccinations.

“It’s going to be with us for many, many years, perhaps forever, and we have to learn to live with it,” he said on Thursday.

Javid’s remarks come after the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that rules on face masks in schools had been scrapped and the requirement to wear face-coverings on public transport and in shops will end next week.

He intended to drop self-isolation rules for people with coronavirus in March.

“I think we are leading Europe in the transition from pandemic to endemic and we’re leading the way in showing the world how you can live with COVID,” Javid said.

Source: British media