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The UK health minister has warned that coronavirus vaccines may be less effective against new variants of the disease, such as those found in South Africa and Brazil, and that stricter border controls are warranted.
“We don’t know the extent of this,” Matt Hancock said in an interview with Sky News on Sunday, commenting on the potentially low effectiveness of vaccines. “In the meantime, we need to have a precautionary principle that says not to bring these new variants back to the UK.”
Hancock’s warning came as Britain reported vaccinating more than 5 million people, including three-quarters of those over 80. worried about the new variants that are developing elsewhere.
“The new variant I’m worried about is the one that exists, but hasn’t been seen,” he said, adding that the UK offers its ability to sequence the genomes of other countries to help them identify new strains. There are 77 known cases of the South African version in the UK and at least 9 cases of the Brazilian version, Hancock told The BBC’s “The Andrew Marr Show”.
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Britain has already banned flights from South Africa and neighboring countries, plus across South America, in an attempt to stop the spread of new variants. Hancock said the government did not rule out introducing even stricter international travel measures in the coming days.
Britain is facing the highest death toll in Europe due to the disease and is struggling to recover from the deepest recession in 300 years. The latest data released on Sunday reported another 610 deaths, bringing the UK total to 97,939. The government is also on alert for signs that a local variant of the virus, which is up to 70% more communicable, could be more deadly than the original strain.
The supply of vaccines – not the distribution by the National Health Service – is the limiting factor in the rate of vaccination effort in the UK, Hancock said. About 6.35 million people have now received their first dose, according to the latest figures, with the UK far ahead of other European countries.
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Hancock could not confirm that schools would be reopened until Easter, saying the government would have to look at data from the then pandemic. Although the government also wants to lift social restrictions as soon as possible, Hancock added that it is too early to provide more details on the potential relaxation.
“There is early evidence that the blockade is starting to reduce cases, but we are on a long, long, long road to being low enough,” Hancock told Sky. “You can see the pressure on the NHS, you can see it every day.”
(Updates with the latest coronavirus data from the sixth paragraph.)