A year later, frustrations and protests increase

LONDON – When the first coronavirus blockade was imposed across the UK exactly a year ago, most would have had a hard time conceiving that, after 12 months, restrictions on public and private life would remain in place.

With this reality now, there are growing signs that the British public is frustrated by the limitations, with anti-blockade protests affecting the capital over the weekend.

Although the UK has set a roadmap for lifting restrictions, with the government aiming to facilitate most coveted curbs by 21 June, there have been signs of smoke in recent days. the government does not expect normal life to resume even then.

Government ministers and health experts advising them have made a series of comments suggesting that summer vacations are now “highly unlikely” given the situation in other parts of Europe where coronavirus cases are on the rise. new variants of the virus.

Another health expert, the head of vaccination at Public Health England, suggested on Sunday that masks and social distancing measures could be needed for several years.

The government has also indicated that it wants to extend its authority to reverse any easing of the measures and, thanks to the support of the opposition Labor Party, is expected to receive approval to extend emergency powers until the October, despite a group of lawmakers from the ruling Conservative party. describing the movement as “authoritarian.”

Combine these factors and a summer of freedom for the UK public is starting to seem more unlikely, which may set the stage for more public discontent as the British despair of returning to ‘normalcy’. Especially when the deployment of vaccines continues at a pace; on Saturday, a combined record total of 844,285 first and second doses was given to those in line for the prey, compared to 711,157 people who received a dose of vaccine on Friday.

March 23 is the first anniversary of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement to the British public that the country would be blocked, with the government implementing unprecedented peacetime measures designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus that had emerged by first time at the time. largely unheard of in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

At the time, when Johnson made the first “stay home” announcement that citizens have become accustomed to, the UK had reported a daily jump in the number of deaths caused by the virus, with 335 deaths for 24 hours with hospitals and healthcare staff facing understanding Covid-19 and effective treatments.

It is advancing rapidly a year and the UK has the ignominious position of having recorded the fifth highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, after the United States, Brazil, India and Russia, according to an account by Johns Hopkins University . To date, the UK has reported more than 4.3 million infections and more than 126,000 deaths, the fifth highest death toll worldwide after the United States, Brazil, Mexico and India.

There will be a minute of silence in the UK on Tuesday to reflect on the deaths caused by the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement that “the last twelve months have been a huge toll on us and I offer my sincere condolences to those who have lost their loved ones.” He added that the country had shown “a great spirit demonstrated by our nation over the past year.”

The reasons for the increase in deaths in the UK, compared to their continental counterparts in continental Europe, are many, but the underlying factors include a higher rate of obesity, pre-existing health conditions and factors socioeconomic.

The government, meanwhile, has received intense criticism for closing too late, failing to implement border controls and controls on travelers arriving in the UK, failing to adequately protect healthcare workers and presiding over an inadequate testing and tracing system. still considered sub-par. In short, he has been accused of not being prepared for a pandemic and of mismanaging it when it arrived.

One of the brightest points and a saving grace has been the highly prestigious scientific community in the UK, which has been at the forefront of research into the virus, its effects and trials, which have sought the best way to combat it. In June 2020, for example, UK health experts led by Oxford University discovered that a low-cost steroid treatment, dexamethasone, could significantly reduce the risk of death when given to patients with more serious covida.

An even greater breakthrough came when Oxford University and the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca successfully developed and tested one of the few effective vaccines, with the creation of the even more remarkable trait as it can take years to develop. if. Government funding also spurred research into the UK vaccine.

The UK was the first country in the world to approve and deploy the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in early December and quickly launched a national vaccination program that has picked up pace.

In January, the AstraZeneca vaccine was added to the arsenal and the vaccination program went on and on, surprising even the most cynical British and winning the country’s health experts and praise from the National Health Service for the bold decision making and well managed management. roll out.

Unlike other European countries, which erroneously questioned the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people over 65, the UK went ahead with mass vaccinations with the elderly and health workers prioritized.

Health experts also opined (criticized at the time, but now replicated in other countries), that the gap between the first and second doses of coronavirus vaccines that were being rolled out should be extend to 12 weeks in order to offer more initial protection to more people. .

The decision was vindicated using subsequent clinical data that demonstrated that the strategy was effective and even increased the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The launch has exceeded expectations; as of March 20, more than 27.6 million British adults had received a first dose of vaccine and more than 2.2 million had received the second vaccine, according to government data.

There is palpable concern among citizens (especially those who oppose the blockade in the first place), as well as the business community, so that society can reopen. The anti-slip protests in London attracted several thousand protesters last weekend who sang “Freedom!” as they marched through the capital. Clashes between police and protesters later led to more than 30 arrests.

So when it comes to the vaccine, it’s been a case of “so far, so good”. The UK has seen the advantage steadily declining in the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The speed of the launch has been critical, at a time when new variants of the virus have emerged and threatens to potentially undermine the positive effects of vaccines.

Continental Europe sees the ramifications of its deployment, perhaps understandably slower, given the fact that the EU chose to order vaccines as a bloc and basically order them later than the UK and US.

In addition to slower production and supply problems, the EU has had to fight vacancy, which is not common in the UK, and bureaucracy, again a factor that is not so much a problem in Britain. , where the health care service is mostly unit-up and centralized system well connected.

But this week the UK faces a potential challenge for its deployment if EU leaders, meeting virtually Thursday, decide to block exports of Covid blockchain vaccines to countries such as the UK, which are later in their vaccination programs.

Johnson has reportedly tried to soften the move, talking to his counterparts in France and Germany over the weekend. But if the EU goes ahead, the UK could face other supply bottlenecks; already expects a shortage of supply due to a reported delay in exports of an Indian manufacturing plant.

The delays could cost Britain’s deployment so far and citizens their freedoms, although the government has said so far that it still plans to offer a first dose of vaccine to all adults before 31 July.