UK PM Johnson pushes back school reopening until March 8

LONDON- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would not be possible to reopen schools in February, but that he hoped the vaccination programme would allow them to open their doors from March 8.

Johnson said that if the government hits its vaccination targets: "We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday the 8th of March, with other economic and social restrictions being removed (then or) thereafter, as and when the data permits," he told parliament.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, writing by William James, editing by Alistair Smout) ((william.james@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 3374; Reuters Messaging: william.james.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))