England’s ‘Freedom Day’ Marred by Isolation Chaos and Warnings of Shortages

People, some wearing protective masks, walk over Westminster Bridge, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in London on July 4, 2021. Henry Nicholls/Reuters

LONDON—Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “freedom day” ending over a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England was marred on Monday by warnings of supermarket shortages and his own forced self-isolation.

Johnson’s bet that he can get one of Europe’s largest economies firing again because so many people are now vaccinated marks a new chapter in the global response to the coronavirus.