Scientists warn that the next strain of COVID could kill many more people. In anticipation of the lifting of restrictions in England, there is a growing demand from the expert community for the heads of public scientific institutions to provide evidence confirming the lifting of the last protective measures against coronavirus.
Leading British scientists are warning that a future variant of COVID-19 could be much more dangerous and cause many more deaths and cases of serious illness than Omicron. As a result, many of them are saying that caution must be exercised in lifting the latest coronavirus restrictions in England (which UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to do next week), according to The Guardian.
At the same time, demands are mounting for Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, the government’s most senior COVID advisers, to hold a press conference to show what evidence there is to support the decision to lift all restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Epidemiologist Professor Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh highlighted the dangers associated with the widespread assumption that variants of COVID-19 will continue to become milder in impact.
“The Omicron variant did not evolve from the Delta variant. It came from a completely different part of the virus family tree. And since we don’t know where a new variant will come from in the virus family tree, we can’t know how pathogenic it might be. It may be less pathogenic, but it could just as well be more pathogenic,” he said.
This view was supported by virologist Professor Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick. “People seem to think that the virus has evolved linearly from Alpha to Beta variant, from Delta to Omicron,” he told the Observer. — But that’s just not the case. The idea that variants of the virus will continue to get milder is wrong. The new one may turn out to be even more pathogenic than, for example, the Delta variant.
David Nabarro, World Health Organization Special Representative for COVID-19, also highlights the uncertainty about how future variants of the coronavirus may behave: “After Omicron, there will be more variants, and if they are more contagious, they will dominate. In addition, they can cause various forms of disease, in other words, they can be more deadly or have longer-term consequences.”
Nabarro urged the authorities to continue planning for the possibility of increasing the number of sick people who need hospital care. “It would be wise to encourage people to constantly protect themselves and others. An approach that does not do this would be a gamble with potentially serious consequences. I do not see any advantages in such a game. The pandemic has a long way to go, and just like when it started, people and their leaders will influence its long-term effects with the actions they take now.”
The warnings came as charities and teachers called on England’s chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser to publicly explain the plan, unveiled in Parliament last week, to lift all COVID restrictions in England from 24 February, including the requirement to isolate after a positive test result, in England.
The call comes as new data suggests that people with blood cancer now account for a higher proportion of COVID deaths than at any point in the pandemic. A total of 458 people with blood cancer in England and Wales died from the coronavirus between October and December 2021, according to an analysis by the Office for National Statistics — one in 20 of those who died from COVID during that time. People with blood cancer have weakened immune systems, so vaccines are unlikely to protect them.
“The absence of any joint support plan for immunocompromised people suggests they did not play a prominent role in the government’s decision to lift the remaining COVID restrictions,” said Gemma Peters, Chief Executive of Blood Cancer UK. “We understand that we cannot keep restrictions in place forever, but given the potential negative impact on immunocompromised people, it is important that government advisers lay out the scientific basis.”
Fiona Loud, policy director for Kidney Care UK, urged the government to show concern for the country’s 500,000 immunocompromised people by sharing her plans and evidence of their decisions: immune-compromised exposure to COVID-19 unnecessarily risks turning us into second-class citizens.”
Robin Bevan, director of Southend Boys’ High School, says last week’s announcement seems premature: not a narrative based on libertarian aspirations.”
Seinwen Giles, who has been immunosuppressed since her cancer treatment, says Johnson’s announcement made her feel left out of society: values. If you are old and sick, you still matter. It just means we’re being shut down.”
As The Guardian writes, a British government spokesman says, for his part: “Those who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable are advised to follow the same recommendations as the general public, but consider taking additional precautions to reduce the likelihood of contracting COVID-19. Vaccines are the best way to protect yourself from the virus.”