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Why is the UK driving the rise in UK Covid cases? | Coronavirus
Covid cases in the UK are on the rise again, with 49,156 reported on Monday. This is the highest since mid-July. This increase EnglandBut what is behind that increase?
Removal of restrictions
Less than half of Britain’s population is fully vaccinated and the minister said Go to step 4 The dismantling of the roadmap and the resumption of society from the blockade on July 19. This meant that while the majority of the most vulnerable people had some protection against the disease, the virus was far from being contained. The virus spread more quickly, especially among unvaccinated people, as people returned to their normal daily lives and students returned to school or college with little protective measures. Middle school students, The person with the highest infection rate in the country. The epidemic in the UK is primarily caused by infectious diseases in this age group.
Relaxation of other measures also contributes to the situation. Especially in the United Kingdom, according to the weekly magazine, mask wear has decreased significantly since the summer. CoMix Survey Conducted by London School of Economics and Tropical Medicine. This is especially relevant to the ability of the virus to spread when people meet indoors, but not enough to make England stand out. Masks are still common in Scotland, where cases are very common.
People have become more and more mixed since the restrictions were lifted, but social contact is still significantly reduced at pre-pandemic levels, so more communication as people return to work and other activities. There is plenty of room.
Booster jab uptake is slow
According to NHS England Third dose From September 2nd, qualified people, often those with weakened immunity, should have been vaccinated. booster May have been given after September 15th.
However, Guardian analysis NHS England’s booster jab data, including the third jab provided to immunosuppressants, show little signs of increase since the first was released on October 1. As one expert pointed out, in the week leading up to October 12, the percentage of booster shots was about half that of the second dose six months ago. Meanwhile, charities have warned that many immunosuppressed people who need a third dose are having difficulty accessing such jabs.
However, it seems unlikely that the pace of these jabs is behind the overall increase in UK cases.
“We know that after vaccination, the number of people infected about 6 months after vaccination has increased measurable, but that’s a comparison of vaccinated rates. It only seems to be the case, “said Roland Kao, a professor at the University of Edinburgh. “Therefore, boosters are now most important to protect individuals and not so important to prevent the increase in cases we have seen,” he added, with a low-level third dose of hospitalization. He said booster jabs are important.
Slow development of jabs for 12 to 15 years old
All children in the UK 12 years old was targeted At least one Covid jab, sometimes two dependencies About age and other factors Their health etc. However, the pace of vaccine deployment has been criticized. According to official figures, the jab rate between the ages of 12 and 15 is one-third that of Scotland, with the former at around 14% and the latter at 44%.
This can be important. Latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics Indicates a surge in infections among junior high school students. An estimated 8.1% of this group in the United Kingdom is believed to have been infected with Covid during the week leading up to October 9. However, with regard to schools, it is also worth noting that many interventions, including the use of face masks in secondary schools in the United Kingdom, have been withdrawn. In contrast, the Scottish Government has confirmed that students should continue to wear masks at school after the half-year of October.
Professor Andrew Hayward, an epidemiologist at the University College London, said: Personal ability.
Hayward pointed out that this group was very unlikely to develop a serious illness, but Kao pointed out that the infection of young people could spread to other groups.
“Vaccination of teens is [tackling the rise in infections] Today, there are so many teenage cases that the situation is very different from the previous pandemic wave, “says Kao.
Immune weakness
The UK quickly got out of the block in a mass vaccination program launched in December 2020, with many other countries catching up and overtaking. One of the results of the first lead is that the UK is now one of the first countries to witness the effects of weakened immunity from these early vaccinations.Public analysis health England, which was submitted to the Emergency Science Advisory Group (Sage) in September, began to lose protection against symptomatic delta infections from about 10 weeks with both the AstraZeneca (British heavily dependent) and Pfizer vaccines. I found that. Beyond five months, AstraZeneca’s or Pfizer’s protection from two shots dropped to just over 50% and over 70%, respectively. At that time, the agency’s data were too scarce to assess weakened protection from the Moderna vaccine.
Weakened immunity, above all, affects the likelihood of infection and has proven to be much more protective against hospitalization and death. However, vaccinated “breakthrough infections” are still serious and even fatal, and ministers are urged to approve booster vaccines over the age of 50 and vulnerable groups to compensate for weakened immunity.