Study says Britain needs to vaccinate two million a week to prevent a third wave of COVID-19

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

The UK has had more than 71,000 coronavirus deaths and more than 2.3 million cases of COVID-19 infections as of the end of Monday, according to a Reuters account.

“The strictest intervention scenario with level 4 (restrictions) across England and schools closed during January and 2 million people vaccinated per week, is the only scenario we considered to reduce the maximum ICU load (intensive care) below the levels seen during the first wave “, said the study.

“If there is no substantial deployment of vaccines, cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in 2021 may exceed those of 2020.”

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 The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

In response to the study, a spokesman for the UK Department of Health told Reuters that “over the next few weeks and months, the vaccination rate will increase as millions of more doses become available and the program continues to expand. se “.

The British government has said it has secured early access to 357 million doses of vaccine through agreements with several developers.

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

This led to tight social mixing restriction measures for London and the south-east of England, while plans to lighten sidewalks over Christmas nationwide were drastically reduced or completely scrapped.

According to media reports over the weekend, Britain will launch the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from 4 January, with the approval of the country’s medical regulator in a few days.

Earlier this month, Britain became the first country in the world to deploy the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech.

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