FILE PHOTO: A nurse holds a vial of Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the University Hospital in Coventry, UK, on December 8, 2020. Jacob King / Pool via REUTERS reuters_tickers
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–This content was published on 29 December 2020 – 12:01
Dec 29 (Reuters) – Britain must vaccinate two million people a week to prevent a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) ).
The UK has suffered more than 71,000 deaths from COVID-19 as of Monday and recorded more than 2.3 million infections, according to a Reuters tally.
“The most rigorous intervention scenario, with a level 4 across England, schools closed in January and 2 million individuals vaccinated per week, is the only scenario that we consider to reduce the maximum load of ICUs below levels seen during the first wave, “says the study.
“In the absence of a substantial deployment of the vaccine, cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths could exceed in 2021 those of 2020.”
An accelerated vaccination of two million people per week is predicted to “have a much more substantial impact,” adds the study, which has not yet been reviewed by other scientists.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers have said that a variant of the coronavirus, the transmission of which could be up to 70% higher, is spreading rapidly in the UK, although it is not believed to be more lethal or cause further evolution. severe disease.
This prompted the adoption of strict social distancing measures in London and the south-east of England, while plans to relax restrictions during Christmas throughout the country were drastically reduced or parked entirely.
British media reported over the weekend that the UK will deploy the COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford and AstraZeneca starting on January 4, and the country’s medical regulator is expected to approve it within days.
At the beginning of the month, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to launch the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The British government said on Thursday that 600,000 people in the UK have already received the first dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since inoculations began.
(Information from Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; translated by Jose Elías Rodríguez)
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