U.K. COVID infections fell about 60 percent in March amid a lockdown and vaccinations.
COVID infections fell roughly 60% in March
LONDON — The U.K.’S COVID-19 vaccination program is beginning to break the link between infection and serious illness or death, according to the latest results from an ongoing study of the pandemic in England.
Researchers at Imperial College London found that COVID-19 infections dropped about 60 percent in March as national lockdown measures slowed the spread of the virus. People 65 and older were the least likely to be infected, as they benefited most from the vaccination program, which initially focused on older people.
The study also found that the relationship between infections and deaths is diverging, “suggesting that infections may have resulted in fewer hospitalizations and deaths since the start of widespread vaccination.”
The positive news came amid renewed scrutiny of vaccinations that followed revised guidance Wednesday that the U.K. government will offer people under 30 an alternative to the Astrazeneca shot where possible. The change followed studies that the shot might be linked to rare blood clots.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News that the public should reassured by the abundance of caution demonstrated by authorities to make sure the vaccine rollout is as safe as possible.
“What we’ve learned in the last 24 hours is that the rollout of the vaccine is working. We’ve seen that the safety system is working, because the regulators can spot even this extremely rare event — four in a million — and take necessary action to ensure the rollout is as safe as it possible can be,” he said. “And we are seeing that the vaccine is working.”
Some 31.7 million people had been given a first dose by Tuesday, or just over 60 percent of the country’s adult population.
In other developments:
■ Mexico’s president says he plans to get the Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine to boost confidence in the shot. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said ealier this week he wouldn’t get a vaccine because his doctors told him he still has a high level of antibodies. He says the vaccine’s benefits far outweigh any risks of a rare blood-clotting disorder.
■ The Quebec government is imposing an earlier curfew for Montreal and the suburb of Laval as it tightens COVID-19 restrictions for the second time in three days because of a third surge of coronavirus infections fueled by more contagious virus variants.
■ Italy’s leader says the nation must concentrate on getting 100 percent of its oldest and most fragile people vaccinated to be able to reopen the country in terms of economic activity.