Mr. Finn’s comments came after Public Health England (PHE) recorded a 79% increase in Delta variant infections in just one week and nearly doubled the number of people hospitalized.
On June 19, the UK reported more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 4.6 million and the death toll to more than 128,000.
On June 14, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the plan to lift all restrictive measures to prevent Covid-19 in the country, which had long been set for June 21, would be delayed for another 4 weeks due to
`We understand the extremely cruel logic of this exponential increase,` Prime Minister Johnson said, referring to the skyrocketing number of nCoV infections, adding that the full reopening was postponed to July 19.
People line up outside the Covid-19 vaccination site in London.
`The number of cases is increasing, although we can be optimistic that this process will not happen faster. The third wave of Covid-19 is definitely starting. We are witnessing a race between the vaccine program
He said the JCVI is still considering vaccinating children but the top priority now is adults.
According to Mr. Finn, quickly deploying the second dose of vaccine, especially for the elderly, is key to avoiding large numbers of hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19.
Dr. Mike Tildesley, an epidemiologist and member of SPI-M, an epidemic modeling group, said people who contract the virus and are hospitalized are now younger and therefore have milder disease.
`These are good signs, but we need to monitor this over the next few weeks to provide as much information as possible to the government, before reopening on July 19,` Mr Tildersley said.
Testing is being stepped up in South London on June 19.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is considering canceling the 10-day self-isolation requirement for fully vaccinated people if they come into contact with someone with Covid-19.
`The US Centers for Disease Control has waived the self-isolation requirement for people who are fully vaccinated and have spent 10 to 14 days after receiving the second dose. We are also moving in that direction,` Ms. Bauld said.