The UK is now at the deadliest point of the coronavirus pandemic, with higher figures than at the peak of last year, English Medical Director Chris Whitty said on Monday.
“We must be very clear that we are now at the worst time of this epidemic for the UK, in the future we will have the vaccine, but the figures at this time are higher than those of the previous peak – – at some distance,” say Whitty to the BBC.
He said he hopes the coming weeks will be the “most dangerous time” before vaccines being rolled out across the country can have an impact. There are currently more than 30,000 people in the hospital and that number continues to rise, Whitty added.
We are now in a situation where in the UK in general 1 person in 50 is infected and in London one person in 30, [in] in some areas of London it is around 1 in 20 people, so there is a good chance that if you meet someone you will unnecessarily have Covid. “
Whitty’s warning comes when seven mass vaccination centers open in England, as efforts continue to massively increase the numbers receiving the shot. People over the age of 80 and health and social care workers living near the sites are offered the opportunity to book appointments.
According to Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi, the UK aims to vaccinate around 15 million of its most vulnerable members of society by mid-February.
“This is really a race against time,” he told BBC radio program 4.
“Once we open more vaccination centers next week and next week and, of course, in community pharmacies … no one should be within a ten-mile radius of a place.”
UK Health Minister Matt Hancock told the BBC on Sunday that all UK adults would be inoculated in the autumn. Hancock will hold a press conference later Monday to announce the delivery plan.