Study says Britain should vaccinate two million a week to avoid a third wave of COVID-19

(Reuters) – Britain must vaccinate two million people a week to prevent a third wave of coronavirus outbreaks, a study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) concluded.

The UK had more than 71,000 deaths from coronavirus and registered more than 2.3 million cases of COVID-19 infections by the end of Monday, according to a Reuters count.

“The most stringent intervention scenario, with level 4 across England and schools closed in January and 2 million individuals vaccinated per week, is the only scenario that we consider to reduce the peak ICU load below the levels seen during the first wave, ”said the study.

“In the absence of substantial vaccine implantation, cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in 2021 may exceed those in 2020.”

An accelerated absorption of two million vaccinees a week “is expected to have a much more substantial impact,” added bit.ly/3o9l2MJ. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers said that a variant of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70% more transmissible, is spreading rapidly in Britain, although it is not considered to be more lethal or cause more serious illnesses.

This has led to restrictive measures of social mixing for London and south-east England, while plans to ease restrictions over Christmas across the country have been drastically reduced or dropped altogether.

Media reports over the weekend said the UK would launch the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine starting January 4, with its approval by the country’s medical regulator expected within a few days.

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to launch the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The British government said on Thursday that 600,000 people in the UK had received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since the inoculations began.