LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Tuesday that the rapid decline in deaths from COVID-19 was largely reduced to a three-month blockade, not the vaccination program, and that cases would rise again. as the restrictions will ease.
The United Kingdom launched its inoculation in December and has already dealt a first blow to all those over the age of 50, the clinically vulnerable and health workers. The country is behind only Israel, in proportion to its population, which has received at least one dose.
However, this launch was followed a month later by a third blockade in early January to address the growing infections caused by the “Kent” variant of the virus. Since February, the daily number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths has fallen sharply.
“Most of the work in reducing the disease has been done by blocking,” Johnson said Tuesday, adding that there is no reason to change the roadmap for reopening the economy.
“As we unblock, the result will inevitably be that we will see more infections and, unfortunately, we will see more hospitalizations and deaths.”
As conditions improved, England reopened all hairdressing shops, hairdressers, gyms and pub gardens on Monday, and Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will reopen various elements of their companies in the coming weeks.
The launch of the vaccine also had a boost on Tuesday, when Moderna became the third vaccine offered in England after AstraZeneca and one from Pfizer-BioNTech.
This will help keep the UK on track to achieve its goal of providing all adults with a vaccine by the end of July.
Moderna, already available in the United States and Europe, uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer photos, but can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, unlike its rival US vaccine, which must be stored and shipped at very low temperatures.
On Tuesday, NHS England said people aged 45 and over could now book appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. For those categories already offered a vaccine, he said that 95% of eligible people accepted the offer.
However, in another note of caution over optimism, the government announced an extension of so-called surge tests in Lambeth and Wandsworth districts in south London to detect cases of the variant first found in South Africa.
There have been 74 confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.351, in neighborhoods and there is concern that vaccines are less effective against it.
“It will be important to watch: if the South African version has really taken off and we will probably know in about two to three weeks, then we may need to take a little reopening break,” said James Naismith, professor of structural biology at Oxford University and director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, he told BBC Radio.
With more than 127,000 deaths, the United Kingdom has the fifth highest number of deaths in the world due to COVID-19.