London says it is confident of the effectiveness of various Indian vaccines

The British government said it was confident, this Sunday, of the event Covid vaccines Against the Indian alternative, whose rise
in the UK Anxious before a major new stage of deconfinement. The number of cases attributed to it rose to 1,313 this week
To the Indian variant The country has more than doubled in a week, according to health authorities. They are concentrated mainly in the northwest and in London.

Health Minister Matt Hancock confirmed to the BBC: “If people are vaccinated twice (…) we have increased certainty, based on preliminary laboratory data (…), that vaccines are effective against the Indian variant.” To stop the spread of the B1.617.2 variant, which may become “prevalent” according to health authorities, the interval between two doses of the vaccine (up to three months) is reduced to eight weeks for people over 50 years of age and the most vulnerable, while screening is stepped up in affected areas .

Stressing that the alternative was “clearly more contagious,” Matt Hancock noted in Sky News that it could “spread like wildfire among unvaccinated groups”: “This is why we have to vaccinate as many people as possible, especially those who are from Is likely to be hospitalized. ” More than 36 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine since the vaccination campaign was launched in early December Nearly 20 million people per second.

India is on the red list

These outbreaks with a cold shower effect are facing a new major phase Decode From England on Monday, the British government defended itself on Sunday to delay measures to tighten restrictions on travelers from India. On April 19, the Executive Authority decided to place India on the Red List of countries whose travelers are prevented from entering the United Kingdom, except for residents who are required to undergo a ten-day quarantine at the hotel.

The announcement came on the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled his official visit to India, his first big trip abroad, due to the outbreak of the epidemic in that country. Matt Hancock denied that the decision to put India on the red list was postponed due to the Tory leader’s trip. “We make these decisions based on the evidence,” he told Sky News.

The alternative is perhaps more contagious

Despite scholars’ calls for caution, the government said there was no reason to delay the planned easing for Monday, with the return of theater service in bars and restaurants, the reopening of cultural venues and the resumption of trips abroad. However, the heavy trading of the Indian formula could raise questions about the lifting of almost all restrictions, scheduled for June 21st. A decision will be made on June 14, according to the health minister.

The Scientific Committee advising the government (Sage) estimated that there was a “realistic possibility” that the variant was up to 50% more contagious than that which appeared at the end of 2020 in the southeast of England. The latter led to widespread pollution and deaths in the UK, forcing the country to reconfigure itself for months in January. The commission warned that if the infection is 40% to 50% higher, easing restrictions on Monday could “lead to a significant increase in hospitalizations” which will be “similar or greater than the previous peak,” when health services were on the verge of saturation. .