Covid Pandemic over in UK
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:01 am
According to the experts "Vaccine rollout has led to drop in symptomatic infections by up to 90 per cent, data show, leaving virus at controllable ‘endemic’ levels" That is absolutely brilliant news. Well done to everyone involved. Lovely to read good news for a change instead of the usual misery! Well done UK Government.
"Britain is no longer in a pandemic, experts have said, as new data showed the vaccination programme is reducing symptomatic Covid infections by up to 90 per cent.
In the first large real-world study of the impact of vaccination on the general population, researchers found that the rollout is having a major impact on cutting both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.
Sarah Walker, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at Oxford and Chief Investigator on the Office for National Statistics Covid-19 Infection Survey, said that Britain had ‘moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation’ where the virus is circulating at a low, largely controllable level in the community.
The new research, based on throat swabs from 373,402 people between December 1 last year and April 3, found three weeks after one dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca jab, symptomatic infections fell by 74 per cent and infections without symptoms by 57 per cent.
By two doses, asymptomatic infections were down 70 per cent and symptomatic by 90 per cent.
It comes as infections continue to fall in Britain, dropping seven per cent in a week, despite the reopening of schools and shops. Deaths have also fallen by 26 per cent and admissions by 19 per cent over the last seven days.
New data from the ONS also showed that Covid was no longer the leading cause of death in March, falling behind dementia and heart disease, for the first time since October.
Prof Walker, said she was hopeful the vaccination programme could keep Covid under control.
“I am cautiously optimistic,” she said at a briefing discussing the new research. “I think the last three months have shown the combined effect of lockdown and vaccination but long term lockdown is not a viable solution, so vaccines are clearly going to be the only way that we are going to have a chance to control this long term."
“Without vaccines, I don’t think getting close to zero is really feasible in the situation now in the UK where we’re effectively endemic, we’ve moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation.”
But she warned ‘“the virus is always going to throw us curve balls and we’re only a small step away from things going wrong again”.
"Britain is no longer in a pandemic, experts have said, as new data showed the vaccination programme is reducing symptomatic Covid infections by up to 90 per cent.
In the first large real-world study of the impact of vaccination on the general population, researchers found that the rollout is having a major impact on cutting both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.
Sarah Walker, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at Oxford and Chief Investigator on the Office for National Statistics Covid-19 Infection Survey, said that Britain had ‘moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation’ where the virus is circulating at a low, largely controllable level in the community.
The new research, based on throat swabs from 373,402 people between December 1 last year and April 3, found three weeks after one dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca jab, symptomatic infections fell by 74 per cent and infections without symptoms by 57 per cent.
By two doses, asymptomatic infections were down 70 per cent and symptomatic by 90 per cent.
It comes as infections continue to fall in Britain, dropping seven per cent in a week, despite the reopening of schools and shops. Deaths have also fallen by 26 per cent and admissions by 19 per cent over the last seven days.
New data from the ONS also showed that Covid was no longer the leading cause of death in March, falling behind dementia and heart disease, for the first time since October.
Prof Walker, said she was hopeful the vaccination programme could keep Covid under control.
“I am cautiously optimistic,” she said at a briefing discussing the new research. “I think the last three months have shown the combined effect of lockdown and vaccination but long term lockdown is not a viable solution, so vaccines are clearly going to be the only way that we are going to have a chance to control this long term."
“Without vaccines, I don’t think getting close to zero is really feasible in the situation now in the UK where we’re effectively endemic, we’ve moved from a pandemic to an endemic situation.”
But she warned ‘“the virus is always going to throw us curve balls and we’re only a small step away from things going wrong again”.