LONDON -- Britain's main doctors' union has joined calls for the next planned lockdown easing in England to be delayed, as figures Friday showed new covid-19 cases across the U.K. running at their highest level since late February.
Government figures showed that 8,125 new cases were recorded Friday. That's the highest figure since Feb. 26 and means that the 7-day average, which smooths out daily fluctuations, has increased threefold over the past month.
The rise in new infections comes as a result of the spread of the delta variant first identified in India. This variant, which is considered to be at least 40% more transmissible than the previous dominant strain, now accounts for more than 90% of all new infections in the U.K.
The pickup in cases has led a number of scientists to call on the British government to delay the next planned lockdown easing in England from June 21.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce Monday whether he will sanction the next lockdown easing, which is intended to remove all legal limits on social contact, including the reopening of nightclubs for the first time since the pandemic struck in March 2020. Johnson is currently hosting the Group of Seven leaders summit in Cornwall, southwest England.
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The pressure on him to authorize a delay, or at the very least to limit the scale of the changes, is rising.
The British Medical Association on Friday said a "sensible delay" would help keep a lid on infections as it would allow more people to be vaccinated with first and second doses, particularly younger people who are seeing the highest proportion of infections.
"With only 54.2% of the adult population currently fully vaccinated and many younger people not yet eligible, there is a huge risk that prematurely relaxing all restrictions will undo the excellent work of the vaccine program and lead to a surge of infections," said Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, council chair of the British Medical Association.
"It's not just about the number of hospitalizations but also the risk to the health of large numbers of younger people, who can suffer long-term symptoms affecting their lives and ability to work," he added.
The U.K. has recorded nearly 128,000 coronavirus-related deaths, more than any other nation in Europe. After a devastating winter surge of infections, deaths have fallen sharply recently following a strict months-long lockdown and the rapid rollout of vaccines.
The rollout, which has primarily been based on age, was extended to 25- to 29-year-olds earlier this week. The government has said it wants every adult to have received at least one dose of vaccine by the end of July.
The improved backdrop has allowed lockdown restrictions to be eased in the U.K. over the past couple of months. The four nations of the U.K. -- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- have lifted restrictions at different paces but have been generally pursuing similar plans for the summer.
CHINESE SHOTS OK'D
Meanwhile, regulators last week approved the use of China's Sinovac vaccine for children aged 3-17, and announced the same for the Sinopharm vaccine on Friday. No date has been set for the shots to start.
Children have been largely spared the worst of the pandemic, becoming infected less easily than adults and generally showing less severe symptoms when they do catch the virus. But experts say children can still transmit the virus to others, and some note that if countries are going to achieve herd immunity through their vaccination campaigns, inoculating children should be part of the plan.
The Sinovac and Sinopharm announcements could open the way for the vaccines, already in use in dozens of countries from Brazil to Indonesia, to be given to children across the world. In Thailand, where Sinovac makes much of the country's vaccine supply, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul welcomed the news that China had approved emergency use for children.
"Once it gets approved, we are ready to provide the vaccine to cover all ages," Anutin said Monday.
Other vaccine makers are also working to expand access to younger people. Moderna is seeking permission to use its shot in children as young as 12, like Pfizer.
Both companies have studies underway in even younger children, down to age 6 months. However, some governments are having problems convincing adults that the shots are safe and necessary despite studies demonstrating they are.
Such concerns can be amplified when dealing with society's youngest. In many places, there are concerns among the public about the efficacy of the Chinese vaccines versus Western rivals.
While efficacy rates cannot be compared directly, owing to the trials being conducted under different conditions, the Western vaccines have shown to be very effective in preventing infection in real world tests. Sinovac's shot has been shown to be effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization. Sinopharm's shot has revealed comparatively less data.
The World Health Organization have approved both vaccines for emergency use in adults aged 18 and older, paving the way for its use in global programs aiming to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. The WHO has given no indication of when it might approve it for those younger.
Vaccines are often approved separately for adults and children because younger immune systems may react differently to the doses. Experts say inactivated vaccines are generally considered safe for children, as the technology has been in use for a long time, such as in mandatory childhood immunization programs, and have shown low risk.
Nikolai Petrovsky, a vaccine expert at Flinders University in Australia, said that while it is reasonable to assume the vaccines would safe for children, he questioned the necessity of vaccinating them against a virus they are relatively protected from using a vaccine that has yet to show it blocks transmission.
"As far as I am aware there is no data to suggest the Sinovac vaccine will block transmission in children," he wrote in an email. "Without such evidence we need to ask why we are immunising the children."
China has a population of 1.4 billion, meaning it needs to inoculate 560 million people to reach its goal of 40% vaccination by June and 1.12 billion people to get to its 80% goal. It will be hard to do the latter without vaccinating many of its 254 million children who are younger than 14.
When China starts inoculating children will be determined by the government's National Health Commission in accordance with the epidemic situation, Sinovac CEO Yin Weidong told state broadcaster CCTV last week.
A spokesperson for Sinovac did not respond to a call requesting comment. China's National Health Commission directed the AP to a news report that summarized Yin's comments.
Information for this article was contributed by Pan Pylas, Huizhong Wu, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul and Fu Ting of The Associated Press.
