Flu may be bigger problem this winter; Britain double-jabs 60 per cent adults

FLU may turn out to be a bigger problem than Covid-19 in Britain this winter, a senior government vaccine adviser said, citing drop in immunity among the population, as the country is set to pass a major landmark of fully vaccinating more than 60 per cent of population.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, Prof Anthony Harnden, claimed that the country had “very low prevalence of flu, particularly virtually nil during lockdown”. 

“And we do know that when flu has been circulating in very low numbers immunity drops in the population, and it comes back to bite us. So flu can be really, really important this winter,” Harnden said.

The declaration comes as the country is set to touch 60 per cent fully vaccinated mark on Tuesday (22).

The latest figures showed that 59.7 per cent of adults – 31,449,915 people – had received both jabs as of Sunday (20) which suggests that the UK is about to hit the milestone of 60 per cent.

The weekend saw a further spike in vaccinated people as NHS opened Covid-19 vaccination drive for over-18s. The latest figure showed that 81.9 per cent of over-18s now have had at least one dose of a vaccine. 

Public Health England has suggested the government should aim to have 70 per cent fully inoculated before lifting remaining restrictions next month.

(Photo by Will EDWARDS / AFP) (Photo by WILL EDWARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed on Monday (21) that those who have been double jabbed will soon be spared having to self-isolate for ten days if they come into contact with someone with Covid. Plans are also under way to remove quarantine restrictions for double-jabbed UK citizens on their arrival from amber-listed countries.

Britons should also expect booster dose later this year as prime minister Boris Johnson said recently that the government will soon set out plans for a booster vaccination programme. 

Pressing on the possibility of another surge of the virus in the winter months Johnson told reporters on Monday (21): “You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that was simply haven’t budgeted for, or accounted for.”

“But looking at where we are, looking at the efficacy of the vaccines against all variants that we currently see – so Alpha, Delta, the lot of them, Kappa – I think it’s looking good for 19 July to be that terminus point,” the prime minister said, adding that “a rough winter” is ahead along with “big pressures on the NHS”.