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The Indian coronavirus mutation could ‘thwart’ the UK’s march to freedom, a leading scientist warned, despite the lockdown and vaccine schedule that led to cases falling to a seven-month low.
Covid-19 infections in the UK fell to the lowest level since the autumn, according to the latest figures.
But a professor of immunology has called on Britain to be on guard against a third wave after 77 cases of another possible vaccine-killing mutation were reported in the country.
Public Health England (PHE) reported that 73 cases of variant B.1.617 had been found, which was first discovered in India, while four other cases were identified in Scotland.
Danny Altmann of Imperial College said that as a result, those arriving in the country from India should be subject to a hotel quarantine if the UK is to close variants that could delay plans to ease the Prime Minister’s shutdown.
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But despite the warnings, Downing Street has insisted that Boris Johnson’s trip to India later this month, his first major international visit since striking a Brexit trade deal with Brussels, will continue.
It comes when the group that advises ministers on the deployment of the vaccine recommended that pregnant women should be offered a Covid-19 prick at the same time as the rest of the population.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) had previously recommended that Covid-19 injections should only be offered to pregnant women when their risk of exposure to the virus is high, such as healthcare workers, or if a woman has problems with the underlying health.
I think we should be terribly worried about that.
The development coincided with a continued decline in coronavirus infections in Britain.
According to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), around one in 480 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to April 10, the lowest figure from the week to April 19. September of last year.
Infection rates in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland followed a similar trend of depreciating numbers, the ONS data showed.
But declining infection levels in the UK stood in contrast to rising case rates in other parts of the world.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said global coronavirus rates were “worrisome” as India recorded more than 217,000 daily cases on Friday, raising its total from that started the pandemic at more than 14.2 million.
Professor Altmann said that the discovery of the Indian variant in the UK should justify the inclusion of India on the UK ‘red list’.
Pregnant women should be offered a Covid-19 jab at the same time as the rest of the population, the JCVI / PA Wire said
Officials have designated his version as a variant under investigation (VUI) rather than a variant of concern (VOC), such as the Manaus (Brazil) or South African variants.
But Professor Altmann said he suspected that the Indian mutation would become a worrisome variant, as it has properties that allow it to evade currently offered coronavirus vaccines, such as the South African variant, and was more transmissible, similarly to the Californian version of Covid.
“I think we should be terribly worried about that,” he told the BBC.
“They (worry variants) are things that can most ruin our escape plan at the moment and give us a third wave. They are a concern.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson still intends to travel to India this month, according to No. 10 / PA Wire
Professor Altmann said he found it “puzzling” and “a little confusing” that those flying from India did not have to stay in a hotel.
The country is not currently on the government’s ‘red list’ for travel, which sees people who have been to those countries in the past 10 days being denied entry to the UK.
British or Irish citizens, or people with UK residency rights, can return from the red list countries, but must be isolated in a quarantine hotel for 10 days.
Issue 10 said Mr Johnson’s visit to India “will still take place at the end of this month” but, as already announced this week, it would be “a little shorter” than the planned initial trip of four. days, and most meetings are expected to turn into just one day.
A Downing Street spokesman said the government’s red list of travel ban countries is “under constant review” when asked why India was not on it.
Meanwhile, the JCVI, which advises ministers on the order of priority for the launch, said there were no “specific safety concerns” identified with “any brand of Covid-19 vaccines” in relation to pregnancy.
The JCVI said data from the US showed that about 90,000 pregnant women had received injections, primarily the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, “with no safety concerns raised.”
As a result, the committee said it cautioned that it was ‘preferable’ for pregnant women in the UK to be offered these two vaccines when available.
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