Why is the UK less likely to go into lockdown than Europe?

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NS

ritons hold on to hopes of a Covid-free Christmas while countries across Europe are put into lockdown.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people marched through Brussels to protest against the new Covid measures in Belgium, while protests also erupted in Switzerland, Croatia and Italy.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week he did not see the need to move the UK’s winter “Plan B” in which people are forced to wear masks indoors and advised them to work from home.

With a fourth wave gripping Europe, why does the UK seem less likely to face another lockdown?

Protesters flee from water cannons during a demonstration in Brussels

/ via Reuters

Reopen early

Compared to other parts of Europe, the UK was able to reopen early partly due to timing and partly thanks to the advice of government scientists.

The country suffered from the most contagious alpha variant and delta sooner, which means it reached conquest status before the others.

Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance also felt that it was best to have a rebound in infection during the summer.

In this way, they hoped the exit wave would be eased, with warmer weather, more people outdoors and less stress on the NHS than in the winter period.

But some experts suggest that immunity is not enough to stop the virus alone.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard told Andrew Marr that there was indeed “a very good deal of building immunity” but that “the balance is shifting because of the vaccine program that has been put in place”.

Coronavirus vaccines are approved for use in children 12 years of age or older in the UK

/ Nick Potts / Ba

vaccination program

The UK vaccination program has been rolled out much faster which means more people have some level of protection against the virus.

This also means that more people are now eligible for a booster shot that must be given five to six months after the second hit.

About 88 per cent of those aged over 12 in the UK have been fully vaccinated.

In contrast, about 66 percent of Austria’s population has been fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe.

Supportive doses have been extended to all people over 40 years of age in the UK

/ Martin Reckitt / Pa

booster effect

More than 21 percent got their third dose compared to six percent across the European Union.

This is because the UK has a healthy vaccine supply but also because many people are eligible to receive a booster.

Six months ago, 31 per cent of Britons had received two doses while only 14 per cent of EU citizens had been fully vaccinated.

This means that many Europeans are not yet eligible for this drug but that their immunity wanes.

A study by the UK’s Health Security Agency found booster punches to be more than 93 percent effective in preventing people from contracting the delta variant, and a third dose provides stronger levels of immunity.

Shoppers wearing face masks on Oxford Street

/ PA

Case numbers

Cases in the UK appear to be stabilizing after rising to 50,000 in October.

Professor John Edmunds, a member of Sage, told Sky News: “Here in the UK, we’ve had high infection rates for several months now and we’re in a slightly different situation than Austria and Germany.

“We had high but fairly stable rates. I don’t think things would happen the same way they did there.”

Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have already reached their peak numbers of infections while the United Kingdom is at 66 percent, according to Reuters data.

France stands at 35 percent of its peak, Portugal at 16 percent and Spain at just 13 percent.

Bus passengers watch a Christmas light show along Oxford Street, London

/ Reuters

Government

The UK government has openly expressed its unwillingness to bring the UK back into lockdown.

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