Ministers are facing urgent calls to consider widening availability of Covid vaccines, amid concern that the new Pirola variant of the disease could put pressure on the NHS and cause more sickness among the workforce this winter.
As data appeared to show Pirola spreading, Rishi Sunak and Steve Barclay, the health secretary, were urged to rethink their decision to restrict vaccines to those aged 65 and those in vulnerable groups.
A group of MPs wrote to the prime minister yesterday warning that the NHS may struggle to cope with another winter of high numbers of Covid cases, while one leading virologist said the health service was in for a “rocky ride” and called for a return to jabs for over-50s.
Members of the all-party group on coronavirus, led by Layla Moran, a Lib Dem MP, called on Sunak to consider extending the booster programme this autumn to more groups such as those aged 50 to 64, and to help make the Covid jab publicly available to buy privately, like the fl u vaccine.
They wrote to Sunak and Barclay amid concern about the Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 , nicknamed Pirola. Scientists have noted the high number of mutations it carries, which raises the possibility that it could evade the immune system more easily or be more transmissible.
In a briefing note yesterday, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said an outbreak at a care home in Norfolk and other cases across the UK indicated there was likely to be community transmission of the strain, but said it was too early to judge the full extent of its spread.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 09, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 09, 2023 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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