It seems to me that current UK government policy is to let the virus spread amongst the general population and rely on vaccination to keep the death and serious illness rate down to a manageable figure.
The consequences of the vaccines failing to prevent serious illness are too horrible to contemplate, but the only reasonable alternative would be to continue with a strict lockdown policy for the forseeable future, and that's pretty horrible to contemplate, too.
I'm afraid I disagree with the way in which you've painted this as a binary choice between lifting all restrictions and continuing with a strict lockdown.
It would have been possible to open up the economy and facilitate social interaction while keeping in place the strategies that we
know help to reduce transmission (masks, social distancing whenever practicable, etc), and - something that our hapless government has been criminally negligent in not pursuing more vigorously - improving ventilation in workplaces, shops, places of entertainment etc. It's as if they've learned nothing from the last 18 months.
So why have the government chosen to go down the 'lift-all-restrictions' route? The answer is that they have bowed (yet again) to the views of a very vocal, vociferous minority of their own supporters (the hard-line libertarian anti-mask brigade), who have been threatening a parliamentary revolt, and BJ doesn't want to find himself in a position where he has to rely on opposition MPs to get his Covid strategies through. And we know how successful that approach has been in other contexts, don't we, folks? (*Cough* *Brexit*)
I find it abhorrent that the freedom of fools to insist on not wearing a piece of cloth over their faces when in close proximity to others is valued more highly than the freedom of those who are especially vulnerable to Covid infection to be able to leave their homes without having their lives endangered by the thoughtlessness and selfishness of others.
So personally, I intend to continue as before, avoiding shops and public places, wearing a mask, maintaining distance, but I'm mad as hell that our government has simply left it to individuals to make their own decisions on how to act, in circumstances where those decisions may impact so profoundly on others. That's not leadership, it's a craven, spineless, pathetic abdication of responsibility.
End of rant. Stay safe, folks.