Many scientists are pushing the UK government to reimpose social restrictions and speed up booster injections as COVID-19 infection rates, already the highest in Europe, continue to rise.
The UK recorded 49,156 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the highest number since mid-July. New infections averaged 43,000 per day over the past week, a 15% increase from the previous week.
Last week, the Office for National Statistics estimated that one in 60 people in England had the virus, one of the highest levels seen in Britain during the pandemic.
In July, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government lifted all restrictions that had been imposed over a year earlier to slow the spread of the virus, including mandatory indoor face coverings and social distancing rules. Nightclubs and other crowded places were allowed to open to maximum capacity, and people were no longer advised to work from home if they could.
Some model makers feared a sharp increase in cases after the measures were lifted. This did not happen, but infections have remained high and have recently started to increase.
So are hospitalizations and deaths, which average over 100 a day – far less than when cases were this high, before much of the population was vaccinated, but still too high, according to government critics.
Some say the British were too quick to resume their pre-pandemic behaviors. Masks and social distancing have disappeared in most settings in England, including schools, although other parts of the UK remain a bit stricter. Even in shops, where masks are recommended, and in London’s transport network, where they are mandatory, membership is spotty.
A plan requiring proof of vaccination to enter nightclubs, attend concerts and other mass events in England has been scrapped by the Conservative government amid opposition from lawmakers, though Scotland has introduced a laissez-faire program -pass vaccine this month.
Decreased immunity
Some scientists say that a more important factor is the decrease in immunity. Britain’s vaccination program got off to a quick start, with vaccines given to the elderly and vulnerable from last December. This means that millions of people have been vaccinated for more than six months, and studies have suggested that vaccine protection gradually wanes over time.
Millions of people in Britain are offered booster shots, but critics say the program is moving too slowly. And while nearly 80% of people over 12 are fully immunized, the number of doses given each day has dropped sharply.
The UK has also waited longer than the US and many European countries to vaccinate children between the ages of 12 and 15, and most young people in this age group have still not received their vaccines.
“It is essential that we speed up the recall program,” said epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, a member of the government’s science advisory group for emergencies.
Mr Ferguson said that a factor influencing the high number of cases in the UK has been the country’s reliance on the AstraZeneca vaccine, “and although it protects very well against the very serious effects COVID, it protects slightly less well than Pfizer’s (vaccine) against infection and transmission, particularly against the Delta variant.
He also noted that “most Western European countries have put in place more control measures, vaccination measures, mask wearing, and tend to have a lower number of cases and certainly not. a number of cases which is increasing as fast as with us. “
“But at the end of the day, it’s a political decision the government has to make,” he told the BBC.
Plan B
Last month, the prime minister said the country may need to switch to a ‘plan B’ – with measures such as mandatory masks and the introduction of vaccine passes – if cases increase sufficiently in the fall. and in winter so that the health system is under intense pressure.
For now, the government says it will not change course.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman Max Blain said “we always knew the next few months would be tough.” But he added that the government was trying to protect “both lives and livelihoods”.
“Thanks to the protections put in place by our vaccination program, we can be one of the most open economies in Europe,” he said.