LONDON: The UK Prime Minister to set out the government’s autumn and winter plan for managing Covid.
The latest data from Public Health England show Covid vaccines are highly effective against hospitalisation from the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, the dominant strain in the UK. Analysis shows the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 96% effective and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective against hospitalisation after two doses.
The winter months will bring renewed challenges. Covid will circulate alongside flu and other respiratory viruses and the threat of a new variant remains. It is difficult to predict with certainty how these will interact and what pressure they may place on the NHS.
The government confirmed last week that those who are immunocompromised will be offered a third primary dose. This is separate from the booster programme, as those who require a third primary dose had insufficient protection from two doses.
The Prime Minister is also expected to repeal powers in England that are no longer necessary from the Coronavirus Act, as part of the government’s plan for managing Covid over the autumn and winter.
These include:
Powers to close-down sectors of the economy, such as business premises, or apply restrictions to events and gatherings.
Powers that disrupt education, enabling temporary closure or restricting access to schools, colleges, and childcare.
Powers that extend time limits for urgent warrants. Powers to detain infectious people.
Vital powers from the Act will be retained that are critical to protect and support the public. This includes giving sick pay to those isolated from day one rather than day seven, directing schools to remain open if they close against government guidance, and helping the NHS to get the emergency resource it needs.
Legal requirements will remain for someone to isolate if they test positive, to protect the most vulnerable from infection and to control the spread of variants. The Coronavirus Act is separate from the Public Health Act.
The Prime Minister is expected to hold a press conference this week to set out the next steps in the pandemic response.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said:
Thanks to the efforts of the public, the NHS and our phenomenal vaccination programme, we reached Step 4 in our Roadmap and life has returned to a sense of normality.
These extraordinary times required necessary but intrusive measures. But I’m determined to get of rid of any powers we no longer need because of our vaccine defences.
I will set out the next phase in our Covid response shortly.
