CORONAVIRUS experts have warned lockdown could return due to new Covid variants saying the UK could end up in “the same situation we were in a year ago."

Scientists have said any future Covid-19 variants could bypass the immunity built up by people getting double-jabbed as the vaccine rollout continues to grow.

Experts are calling on the government to publish any plans for response should new variants of the virus start to overcome the protection offered by the vaccines.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) have previously said the arrival of a new variant evading the vaccines is a “realistic possibility”, reports The Guardian.

Sage member Prof Graham Medley said: "A new variant that was able to overcome immunity significantly would be essentially a new virus.

“The advantage would be that we know we can generate vaccines against this virus – and relatively quickly. The disadvantage is that we would be back to the same situation we were in a year ago."

Dr Marc Baguelin, a member of the government’s SPI-M modelling group, said: "We would most likely be able to update the current vaccines to include the emerging strain.

“But doing so would take months and means that we might need to reimpose restrictions if there were a significant public health risk."

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