UK may still need ‘extra precautions’ after July 19; Booster dose to start from September

UK prime minister Boris Johnson is upbeat about easing lockdown on July 19 but with some "extra precautions", as daily new cases in England touched 26,068 on Wednesday (30), with cases of reinfections also coming to light.  Meanwhile, booster Covid-19 vaccine is expected to be deployed rapidly from September for the vulnerable population in the country.

England may still need “extra precautions” to protect against coronavirus even after the final stage of lockdown easing, Johnson said on Thursday (1) during his visit at new Nissan plant in Sunderland.

"I know how impatient people are to get back to total normality, as indeed am I," he said. "But there may be some things we have to do, extra precautions that we have to take, but I'll be setting them out."

Johnson has also urged parents and schools to be patient over the possibility of scrapping isolation for whole bubbles in schools, adding that double jabs will be "a liberator" for foreign travel.

"Everybody who is frustrated about travel over the summer - double jabs will be a liberator.”

Johnson’s statement comes as the country continues to see a rise in daily new cases which are now touching the figures which was last seen in January when the country was emerging from the second wave.

Daily government figures also show a further death of 14 people within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK total toll to 128,140. The number of Covid-19 patients on ventilators in England’s hospitals has also climbed to its highest level for more than two months, as per the latest figures, which also shows more than 15,000 potential reinfection cases.

Meanwhile, NHS on Wednesday (30) has been given the green light to start planning for Covid vaccine booster programme for vulnerable people in England which is expected to start from September, following interim advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

Welcoming the announcement on booster dose, UK’s health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said that “our first COVID-19 vaccination programme is restoring freedom in this country, and our booster programme will protect this freedom”.

The final JCVI advice will be published before September after taking into account the latest epidemiological situation, additional scientific data from trials such as Cov-Boost, real-time surveillance of the effectiveness of the vaccines over time and emerging variants.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawai said: “Our COVID-19 vaccination programme has been a roaring success, with almost 85 per cent of adults across the UK receiving a first dose and more than 62 per cent getting both doses."

“We are now planning ahead to future-proof this progress and protect our most vulnerable from variants and flu ahead of the winter," Zahawi said.