5years prior, vaccine can ‘hold the line’ medical chief of Europe

June 21, 2021: -England’s top medical officer has warned that the coming winter will be difficult for the health system of the country despite the successful coronavirus vaccination program of the country.

The easing of lockdown restrictions in England was delayed this week because of a surge in cases of the delta variant first discovered in India.

On Thursday, In a speech to the NHS Confederation, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said another surge would likely follow the current wave of Covid infections due to the delta variant in the winter.

He said that coronavirus “has not thrown its surprise at us, and there will be few more variants over the next period,” according to Sky News. He added that it would likely take five years before vaccines could “hold the line” to a considerable degree against a range of Covid-19 variants.

And until then, he said that vaccination programs and booster doses would be needed.

In the U.K., where the new infections are caused by the delta variations, cases have spiked from the young people and the unvaccinated, leading to a rise in hospitalizations in those cohorts.

It’s hoped that the coronavirus vaccination programs can stop the delta variant from spreading, and so the race is on to protect younger people who might not be vaccinated completely.

On Monday, Analysis from Public Health England showed that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines are effective against hospitalization from the delta variant.

But few vaccines are reported to be less effective against different strains. For instance, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this month that it had started commercial negotiations with AstraZeneca to secure a variant vaccine adapted to tackle the variant first discovered in South Africa.

Whereas, trials of booster doses are already underway in Britain, and there are reports that the population will receive a third dose before winter this year.

Above 42 million people have had the first dose of a vaccine in Britain. That’s about 80% of the adult population, and over 30 million people have had their second dose.