No Plan B yet
Stay cautious in UK call as Euro protests spread Brits aged 40 to 49 can book third booster jab
THE Health Secretary has played down any need to move to Plan B to tackle Covid in the wake of the surge of cases in Europe.
Sajid Javid insisted it was not yet time for more restrictions to be introduced but he urged people to remain cautious in the run-up to Christmas.
He said: “If we needed to take further measures with Plan B then we would do so, but we’re not at that point.”
Protests have flared up across European cities over rules to counter the sharp rise of infections, including in Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.
In the UK, booster doses will be available on the NHS for people most at risk from Covid who have had a second vaccine at least six months ago.
From today, 40 to 49-year-olds can book the booster jabs along with second doses for 16 to 17-year-olds.
Mr Javid suggested he would extend boosters to healthy under-40s if recommended by vaccine chiefs, who are also said to be considering jabbing five to 11 year olds next spring.
PM Boris Johnson has refused to rule out imposing Plan B with mandatory masks and vaccine passports as a blizzard of cases hits continental hotspots.
But one of the creators of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine predicted Covid rates are unlikely to surge in the UK this winter as in Europe because Britain is already suffering so badly.
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard said the UK is less likely to see the rise being recorded in other European countries because UK cases of the Delta variant are already high, with more than 1,000 people dying per week.
Some experts fear vulnerable people may have died because they did not have a third jab when promised by the Government.
And Sir Andrew warned Covid will be with us “for the decades ahead”, as UK cases rose 10.7% in a week.
Sir John Bell, of the Vaccine Task Force, said “my bet at the moment” is the UK would not see as powerful a surge as parts of Europe.
He said: “My advice is, order that turkey, because it will all be fine. And if you’re planning a skiing holiday in Austria, things may not go so well.”
He added: “In many ways the pattern of our disease doesn’t match the pattern of the European disease.
“In the dark days of March, April, May 2020, everybody said, ‘Oh gosh, aren’t the Germans clever, they haven’t got any Covid and aren’t the Brits dumb because they’ve got lots of it’. I don’t think it has quite played out that way.”
Mr Javid did not rule out adding European hotspots to the travel red list.
But he said mandatory vaccination is not something the Government would look at bringing in – apart from NHS and social care staff.
He admitted the Government is not on track to meet a pledge of 6,000 more GPs because of the focus on Covid.