E-Paper
Under-18s could be Delta variant driver, virologist sounds caution on UK vaccination plan
Britain is witnessing another surge in infections and, according to Public Health England, the Delta variant accounts for 99% of the total active Covid cases.
Amid the UK’s drive to vaccinate all individuals above the age of 18, a leading British virologist has warned that it could lead to the concentration of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in schoolchildren, according to The Observer. The United Kingdom is witnessing another surge in infections, which many deem as the country's third Covid wave, and, according to Public Health England, the Delta variant accounts for 99% of the total active cases.
The UK government has been targeting to vaccinate the maximum number of individuals in the shortest possible time to avoid another wave. A senior Public Health England (PHE) said that it should be possible for 70 per cent of the adult population to receive both doses of the Covid vaccine before July 19, the date of the final stage of lockdown lifting.
“We are definitely seeing some signs of slowing down…We are seeing rises and falls as people really go out and get tested and I think we are seeing the impact of vaccination and that is good news,” Dr Susan Hopkins, strategy director for Covid-19 at PHE, told the BBC.
Also Read | Third wave of Covid-19 arrives in UK, says expert as Delta variant wreaks havoc
While the government officials have emphasised the need for maximum vaccination coverage among adults to avoid another deadly Covid wave, virologist Julian Tang, of Leicester University, has reportedly sounded a note of caution. Recent data on Covid-19 indicates that people under-30s, who have not been extensively vaccinated, were the ones largely infected by the virus and Tang suggested that the vaccination programme would drive the virus into under-18s, reported The Observer.
“As a result, the virus will concentrate in school-age populations, which will eventually become a reservoir and driver of any ensuing Delta variant epidemic, as well as being a hotspot in which new mutations may arise,” the British weekly quoted Tang as saying.
Such developments could pressurise the government to administer Covid vaccines to children and teenagers, a move strongly criticised by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Global health leaders have discouraged the vaccination of children at this stage when all healthcare workers and high-risk individuals in low and lower-middle-income countries are yet to be inoculated against Covid-19. In May, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had criticised the move by rich countries to vaccinate lower risk groups, calling it a “moral catastrophe.”
“In January, I spoke about the potential unfolding of a moral catastrophe. Unfortunately, we are now witnessing this play out,” the WHO chief told a press briefing.
