Britain is no longer in the midst of a pandemic. Experts say this, noting that based on new data it emerges that the vaccination campaign has reduced symptomatic coronavirus infections by up to 90 percent. This is the first wide-ranging research on real data from the vaccination campaign which, scientists point out, had a decisive impact on the circulation of the virus.
Sarah Walker, Oxford Lecturer in Medical Statistics and Epidemiology and Chief Investigator for the Bureau of National Statistics investigation into Covid-19 believes the UK has “gone from a pandemic to an endemic situation”, in which the virus is circulating in communities at a low and largely controllable level.
The new research, which is based on swabs carried out on 373,402 people between December 1 last year and April 3, found that after a dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines, symptomatic infections plummeted by 74 percent and those without symptoms by 57 percent. With two doses, asymptomatic infections were reduced by 70 percent, while those with symptoms by 90 percent.
The results of the research, which the Telegraph reports, were disclosed while across the United Kingdom we continue to see a decline in infections, which fell by 7 percent in a week, despite the reopening of schools and businesses. . In the past seven days, deaths have also dropped by 26 percent, while hospital admissions by 19 percent. The new data from the Statistics Office also indicate that in March, for the first time since last October, Covid-19 was no longer the leading cause of death.
Walker says she is “cautiously optimistic” that the vaccination campaign will keep the virus under control. “I think the last three months have shown the combined effect of the lockdown and vaccinations, but a long-term lockdown is not a viable solution, so vaccines are clearly the only way we have to control this in the long term.” . And yet, he warns, the virus remains insidious and “it doesn’t take much for things to go bad again”.
Commenting on the research, Health Minister Matt Hancock stressed that “vaccines work” and the new data “is further evidence that both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are having a significant impact in reducing infections across the UK.”