COVID-19: Vaccines prevent 84,600 deaths in England – with cases rising in almost all regions and age groups | UK news

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Coronavirus infection rates are on the rise in most areas of England and among almost all age groups, according to the latest figures from Public Health England (PHE).

Case rates are up in all areas of England except the North East, and among all age groups except people aged 10-19, according to PHE’s latest weekly surveillance report.

It comes as separate PHE data showed that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in England is estimated to have prevented more than 84,000 deaths.

PHE said Thursday that 84,600 deaths and nearly 23.4 million coronavirus infections have been prevented as a result of the vaccination program as of August 6.

Estimates of the number of hospital admissions in England directly averted by the vaccine remain unchanged at 66,900.

“The data indicate that cases of COVID-19 are currently stable, although rates remain high across the country,” said Dr. Yvonne Doyle, medical director at PHE.

Vaccines “break the link between infection and serious disease,” she added.

More than 40 million people, or 75.7% of the UK adult population, are now fully vaccinated.

However, a PHE monitoring report indicates that cases are resurfacing.

The highest case rate was among people aged 20 to 29, with 670.7 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to August 8, a weekly increase of 628.6.

The second highest rate among people aged 10-19, down from 515.4 to 456.1, and the lowest among people aged 80 and over – 66.6, up slightly from 65.

Yorkshire and the Humber is the area with the highest rate, with 372.4 cases per 100,000 people in the same seven-day period, a weekly increase of 359.7.

The East Midlands has the second-highest score: 338.5, up from 312.7; The lowest rate is in the southeast: 255, up from 234; In the Northeast, the rate fell from 325.5 to 286.4.

It comes as one expert warned that the rate of decline in new daily symptom cases across the UK could slow.

A total of 179,748 people have tested positive for coronavirus in England at least once a week until August 4, according to the latest testing and tracking numbers.

This is a 5% decrease from the previous week and the second consecutive weekly decline.

Figures published last week saw numbers drop for the first time in nearly three months.

According to separate data from the Zoe COVID Study, there are currently 45,911 new daily exposures to the virus in the UK on average, based on PCR and lateral flow test data from up to five days ago.

This is down from the figure reported last week of 46905, but the researchers said the fact that the drop was small indicates that the rate of decline has slowed.

Professor Tim Spector, senior study scientist and professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said: “The decline in cases we saw last week appears to have faltered over the past few days, and we are seeing signs of an increase.

“However, it is too early to say if this is the start of another sharp increase like the one we saw in July.

“While it is reassuring to see that the relaxed restrictions have not caused cases to increase dramatically, it is difficult to predict the future. Cases are still relatively low in the fully vaccinated group, and it is a sign that the vaccines are working and preventing the spread of disease.”

He said their research had recently noted a “slight increase” in cases among those over 60 who had been vaccinated some time ago, adding: “This may be due to weak immunity and we are closely monitoring the performance of the vaccines more of the time.”

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The government is awaiting advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) on the launch of booster vaccines, which could start as early as next month.

Experts said they are still evaluating the data before they can confirm whether all people over 50 who are clinically vulnerable will need a third stroke.

Zoe’s data is based on reports from nearly 1 million contributors per week and the proportion of users who have recently developed symptoms who have received positive smear tests.

The researchers said the latest numbers were based on data from 25,767 recent swab tests conducted between July 24 and August 7.

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