With government ministers and even the PM himself avoiding quarantine regulations it is not surprising that those least at risk are hesitant before getting jabbed – or just not being bothered to go out of their way for it. Many are transient and may not be registered with a GP, or unable to take time off work. No clear message seems to be coming out to justify why having the jab is worth the small risk. It seems more about sticks than carrots. An estimated 33% in the 18-30 age group have yet to have their first jab. The figures become less impressive when we see that 31% of the population have had no jab and 42.7% not had both.
These last figures would suggest that there is a possibility for a new variant with such a pool of potential infection. However we have heard nothing about new variants for a couple of months – so is this because it is summer (but not all around the world)! many countries have had virtually no vaccines, but we are to hearing of new strains of covid – or am I tempting fate?
JCVI experts remain extremely cautious about rolling out the vaccines for 12-15 year olds. Can this be given a public airing so we can all make informed decisions.
Other experts at SPI-M have speculated that numbers of cases were either stabilising or set to rise again. The latest figures show a small rise. I guess the true nature of the future trajectory of the pandemic will not be known until schools and universities go back in a few weeks.
Meanwhile the number of people who have caught the virus in my 6 villages remains at 39, down 3 from yesterday, in the last week. Given a vaccination rate of 91.4% for single dose and 82.4% for both doses I am hypothesising that most of these must be in the younger age groups?
Basically it seems that mask wearing is something which should be compulsory, especially for the unvaccinated!