Britain must 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 study said, "The most stringent intervention scenario with tier 4 England-wide and schools closed during January and 2 million individuals vaccinated per week, is the only scenario we considered which reduces peak ICU burden below the levels seen during the first wave.”
The United Kingdom by far has recorded more than 71,000 deaths from the coronavirus infection and has registered over 2.3 million COVID-19 cases as of late Monday.
"In the absence of substantial vaccine roll-out, cases, hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths in 2021 may exceed those in 2020." Accelerated uptake of two million vaccinated per week "is predicted to have a much more substantial impact", the study added, pointing out that it is yet to be re-evaluated.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers had announced that a new coronavirus strain which could be up to 70% more transmissible, has been detected in Britain and is “fast spreader”, but it is not thought to be more deadly or to cause more serious sickness.
This new covid-19 mutant variant has prompted the country to put strict covid restrictions steps for London and southeast England, while plans to ease curbs for Christmas across the nation were scrapped. Many countries have temporarily banned flights from and to the UK, whereas Italy, Australia and India have already detected the new strain.
Media reports over the weekend said that the United Kingdom will roll out the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from Jan. 4, with its approval by the country's medical regulator expected within days.
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Earlier this month, the UK became the first country in the world to vaccinate its population made by Pfizer and BioNTech.
On Thursday, the British government said that 600,000 Britons have been injected with the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the infection since the inoculation began.