Dr C’s check-up

With light at the end of the tunnel after the long, dark months of lockdown, Dr C tells us how to keep safe as we get set to enjoy a little more freedom again

It’s great news that we’ve hit the target of giving a first jab to the 15 million most vulnerable people in the UK. It’s meant that we’re on course for a gradual easing of the restrictions over the coming weeks and months.

Closer went to press just before the government announced their official roadmap out of lockdown, but at the time of writing this, there’s every indication we’ll soon be able to meet outside as a group of six, sit on a bench and enjoy a takeaway coffee with a friend, or have an alfresco pint from the pub. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his goal is for this to be the final national lockdown, so I’m glad to hear him being cautious. We cannot afford to get this wrong. Yes, we’re vaccinating, but the vast majority of people have only had one jab and aren’t totally protected, so now is not the time to relax too much.

TAKE VITAMIN D WHILE YOU WAIT

As we work our way through the priority groups and look towards enjoying more freedom, you can protect yourself in other ways. Experts are still looking into the link between vitamin D and COVID19, but a new study involving 550 coronavirus patients admitted to a hospital in Barcelona has found that when they were given vitamin D3, it reduced deaths by 60 per cent. They also found that patients who got the virus and had a topup of vitamin D3 were 80 per cent less likely to be admitted to ICU. The study still needs to be reviewed by other academics to see if it’s strong enough, but I would advise people take 10mcg of vitamin D daily, because we’re all likely to be deficient, given how much time we have spent indoors this past year.

Vitamin D is important for overall immunity, as well as for sleep and for bone and muscle health, and most of us are low in the UK because it’s impossible to get enough from food alone. You don’t need “super strength” supplements, just 10mcg a day, or if you have dark skin or cover up for religious reasons, ask your doctor if you should take more.

DON’T UNDO ALL THE GOOD WORK

As lockdown gradually starts to be lifted, it would be very easy to mess things up. As soon as we’re allowed to go to pubs or have picnics, we’ll all get that end-of-term feeling, but we need to manage lifting restrictions carefully, otherwise we risk undoing all the work of this mass vaccination rollout. To stay safe, stick to the same guidelines: wear a mask, keep two metres apart and wash hands regularly or use hand sanitiser. And even if Boris is relaxing restrictions, all those rules still apply, to avoid a repeat of this.

GO SLOWLY

I think a lot of people will struggle to come out of this lockdown because we’ve been restricted for so long that we’ve become used to a much-reduced world. Although we’re looking forward to it, people may feel daunted when the day comes, so just do what you feel comfortable doing. You might prefer nights in, and that’s OK – you aren’t the only one. When we get used to something, it becomes comfortable and safe, so if a friend messages and says “Come to the pub tomorrow”, feeling nervous is perfectly normal.

Not being quite ready to go out for a drink doesn’t make you a bad friend. I would actually prefer people to be super careful, because you could argue that there are slightly more risks now than before, thanks to new mutations of the virus. Go slowly. In terms of being able to hug loved ones, I would be willing to stick my neck out and say that two weeks after your second dose, you would be fine to hug someone, but we don’t know that with absolute certainty.

BE READY FOR KIDS’ JABS

Another question people are asking, especially with schools due to reopen soon, is whether

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children will be vaccinated. As of now, there are no plans to vaccinate under-16s, because they don’t tend to suffer with the virus, and smaller children don’t tend to spread it – but the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is being tested to see whether it produces a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17. It’s possible there will be licensed children’s vaccines by the end of the year.

Children very rarely get sick from coronavirus, but if we see big spikes in the spread of it in secondary schools when they reopen, we may need to vaccinate teenagers. We also need to check it’s safe in case children with health conditions need the jab, plus there could be a mutation that suddenly means the virus spreads more easily among children, so we need to be ready for that. Scientists are now thinking of the longterm, so we can get ahead of coronavirus, not play catchup with harsh measures like national lockdowns.

STICK TO THE RULES – THE END’S IN SIGHT

People often feel worried when they hear an expert – or the PM – say they don’t know something yet, but we aren’t totally in the dark. We have a massive wealth of prior knowledge based on other very similar things – COVID-19 is not new in biological terms. We have also learnt a huge amount in the last year. For example, we have scientists constantly monitoring new variants, so we can pounce on them fast.

Once enough people are vaccinated, that drops viral levels significantly and creates herd immunity. We’re on our way to achieving that, but getting rid of this virus still relies on everyone following the rules. Last summer, we had a taster of more freedom after a successful lockdown. By this summer, we will also have huge numbers fully vaccinated, so there is an end in sight, if we keep up our efforts.