Get the jabs and follow guidance in ‘final push’

ASENIOR West public health boss has called on people to help with the “final push” to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The Covid-19 infection rate is rising in the county and it is particular affecting people aged from 10 to 29.

Health experts believe this is because this age group has not been fully vaccinated yet and many younger people are working in public-facing jobs.

Sarah Scott, Gloucestershire’s public health director, says it is extremely important that people get vaccinated and continue to follow the guidance.

She says that while hospitalisations thankfully remain low, it is important to keep the overall number of infections as low as possible.

This is because if more people get infected there is more of a chance the virus could mutate.

“As we expected, as the lockdown measures have eased, we’ve seen more people mixing,” she said.

“Cases are going up in the county. In some areas we are seeing quite rapid growth.”

Ms Scott said the South West has seen relatively low rates of infection throughout the pandemic.

And this could also explain why cases are currently increasing rapidly in the county as there may be less immunity due to less of the population being exposed to the disease.

“Over most of the pandemic in Gloucestershire and the South West we’ve seen relatively low rates,” she said.

“This might help explain why our case rate is rising quite quickly in particular age groups.

“There is a hypothesis that the South West as a whole has a lower level of immunity because we’ve seen a lower level of disease overall.”

In general, the coronavirus vaccine uptake has been really good across the West but Ms Scott says it is vital that people take up the two doses of the vaccine to have the maximum benefit.

“We are seeing this peak in the group who have had only one dose. It’s a pattern across the South West,” she said.

“People are out there trying to live as normal a life as possible within the restrictions. But the delta variant is much easier to catch.

“No vaccine is 100% effective; it’s still possible to catch it and pass it on, particularly if you haven’t had that second dose.

“Even if you’ve had both vaccines, we are asking people to follow the guidance. It doesn’t make you completely invulnerable to the impact of the virus.

“It’s like one final push. We are heading into another peak at the moment and we must do all we can to stop it.”

> Sarah Scott, Gloucestershire’s public health director