700,000 people living with cancer fear big reopening
ONE in five people living with cancer in England say they will not be able to return to normal life on so-called “Freedom Day”, despite the success of the UK vaccine programme.
Out of an estimated 2.4 million people living with the condition in England, 21 per cent said they could not enjoy day-to-day activities until new Covid cases had stopped being reported.
According to research by Macmillan Cancer Support, three per cent – about 70,000 people – said they did not think it would ever be safe for them to return to the way their life was before the pandemic.
It comes as the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England are lifted today, marking the return of major social freedoms.
Social distancing rules have been dropped along with limits on social gatherings, although mask-wearing in certain spaces, including supermarkets and on public transport, is still encouraged and will remain mandatory in some situations.
The Government has been criticised for the blanket easing by charities, including Macmillan, who have called for more to be done to support the clinically vulnerable.
A group of 37 experts, including some of the UK’s leading haematologists and immunologists, has issued a joint statement expressing concern that Government guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable is too broad to be useful for people with blood cancer.
Macmillan chief executive Lynda Thomas said continuing basic infection prevention measures to help vulnerable people to feel more comfortable was “not that much to ask”.
A survey of 2,156 adults with a previous cancer diagnosis, carried out by Macmillan Cancer Support and YouGov, found that many were worried about rising cases of the Delta variant and its impact on their safety.
Almost one in three of those who responded said they were concerned about new strains of the virus disrupting vaccine effectiveness, while 23 per cent thought it was unlikely that the Covid-19 vaccination programme would allow life to return to normal.