Expert says Covid could ‘roar back’ amid vaccine warning

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An expert said the UK should not turn a blind eye to Covid-19 vaccinations, as he warned the virus could “come back again”.

Dr Chris Smith, a consultant virologist and lecturer at Cambridge University, said the decision on booster vaccines should not be “hasty, (or) hasty”, and that the government was considering a more “strategic” approach.

It comes as Health Minister Sajid Javid said he was “confident” a booster vaccine campaign could begin next month despite reports that experts wanted more time to consider whether it was needed.

Speaking on the BBC’s Breakfast programme, Dr Smith said: “We all agree that (the epidemic) is not over until it is over in every corner of the world, otherwise it will come back again.

“Don’t forget that we think this started with a few cases in one city, in one corner of one country…and then it overwhelmed the entire world.

“But one shouldn’t take one’s eye off the ball here because it would be very easy to unpack all the good work we’ve done so far if it turns out over time that we lose immunity because vaccines are dwindling in their efficacy.

“With winter coming, it’s now a critical period and I think that’s why we haven’t seen a hasty, hasty decision by the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization) and the government.”

To date, the UK vaccination program has had around three quarters of adults fully vaccinated with two doses.

The NHS plans to enable the rollout of third doses from September 6, along with flu vaccines, but unlike other countries such as Israel, no formal decision has been made about the boosted programme.

It comes as research has found that more than three-quarters of adults in every age group say they would be most likely or very likely to get a booster dose if they were offered one.

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Overall, 87% of adults surveyed by the Office for National Statistics said they were likely or very likely to get a third stroke of the coronavirus.

The likelihood increased with age, with 96% of those aged 70 or over indicating an interest, and decreased to 78% of those aged 16-29.

Dr Smith said that while interventions in certain demographics may be more “strategic,” a decision on launching a booster campaign must be made soon.

“As other countries embark on booster programs, people are doing an assessment, they’re looking at the data and maybe making a decision about how to strategically intervene in certain groups,” he said.

“They will have to make a decision soon because winter will soon be upon us and it will take time to implement the program and it will take time for the vaccines to actually have an effect on these people.”

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The controversy over the boosters comes as England’s chief medical officer has drawn attention to the “glaring” fact that the majority of current coronavirus patients have not been vaccinated.

Professor Chris Whitty said he spent four weeks working on the Covid ward and told how many patients “regretted delaying” their strokes.

Prof Whitty wrote on Twitter that there were some “extremely sick” people in hospital, including young people, and urged people to fully vaccinate themselves.

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Meanwhile, the UK’s Medicines Regulatory Authority has approved the use of a drug that was given to former US President Donald Trump when he was hospitalized with Covid-19 last year.

It is the first treatment to be used in the UK with man-made antibodies designed specifically to prevent and control the coronavirus.

Mr Javid hailed the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s decision on Ronapreve – formerly known as REGN-Cov2 – as “excellent news” and said he hoped it could be rolled out to patients on the NHS “as soon as possible”.

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