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Reuters
The UK will live with coronavirus for many years, and even a vaccine is unlikely to permanently eliminate it, experts warn.
Wellcome Trust director Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar told the House of Commons Health Committee that “things will not be done before Christmas.”
He went on to say that humanity would be living with the virus for “decades”.
It comes after the prime minister said last week that he expected a return to normal by Christmas.
Boris Johnson made the comments by establishing plans to further ease the restrictions, including opening leisure centers and indoor pools later this month and the possibility of mass gatherings being allowed starting in the fall.
But experts who gave evidence to the group of parliamentarians from all parties said it was important to be realistic that the virus would still be here.
Sir Jeremy, a member of Sage, the government’s advisory body, said the world would be living with Covid-19 for “many, many years to come.”
“Things will not be done at Christmas. This infection will not go away, it is now a human endemic infection.
“Actually, even if we have a very good vaccine or treatment, humanity will continue to live with this virus for many, many years … decades to come.”
He urged against complacency during the summer, saying the period was a “crucial phase” to avoid a second wave.
“If we have any sense of ‘this is behind us’ complacency, then we will undoubtedly have a second wave, and we could easily be in the same situation again.”
He said it was important to further develop testing capabilities, as well as invest in treatments and vaccines.
Vaccine ‘unlikely to have a lasting effect’
Professor Sir John Bell of Oxford University said he thought Covid-19 was unlikely to be phased out despite positive news announced Monday that his university’s trials had elicited an immune response, an important step. in the development of a vaccine. .
“The reality is that this pathogen is here forever, it is not going anywhere,” he told lawmakers.
“Look how many problems they have had to eliminate, for example, the polio, that eradication program has been working for 15 years and still they are not there.
“So this is going to come and go, and we are going to have winters where we are going to put much of this virus back into action.”
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“The vaccine is unlikely to have a long-lasting, lasting effect, so we will have to have a continuous cycle of vaccines, and then more diseases, and more vaccines, and more diseases.”
“So I think the idea that we are going to eliminate it in the entire population is not realistic.”
Top adviser defends government record
The government’s chief medical adviser was also questioned by parliamentarians.
Professor Chris Whitty was asked at length about the UK’s history thus far in fighting coronavirus.
He defended measures to end attempts to contain the virus in March, while defending the actions of ministers accused of announcing the shutdown too late.
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Crucial evidence on the magnitude of the outbreak and the model on how fast it could spread was presented to ministers on March 16.
But it was a full week after a total block was announced.
Professor Whitty said it was not a “long delay” given the “enormity” of the decision.
He also noted that other measures were taken in the meantime, including the closure of schools.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the government’s record on testing, and his decision to set a goal of providing 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.
The measure has been criticized and some described it as arbitrary.
But Hancock told the Science and Technology Committee, which was sitting after the Health Committee, that it was important because of the need to “scale” at unprecedented speed.
“The goal of the big, hairy and bold goal is to tell the whole system, ‘This is where we are going, do your part, we are going to get there.'”
UK coronavirus statistics:
- 45,422 people died in hospitals, nursing homes and the community at large after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK at 5 pm Monday, an increase of 110 from the previous day
- Separate figures released by UK statistical agencies show that 56,100 deaths have now been recorded in the UK, where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
- In the 24-hour period through 9 am Tuesday, there were an additional 445 laboratory-confirmed cases. Overall, a total of 295,817 cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began.
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