Mass infection is not an option: we must do more to protect our young
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01589-0/fulltext
https://www.thelancet.com/cms/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01589-0/attachment/59e7c37f-2dbb-498e-a092-fc5be732603b/mmc1.pdf
Implicit in this decision is the acceptance that infections will surge
broken the link between infection and mortality
On July 19, 2021, almost all restrictions are set to end.
We believe this decision is dangerous and premature.
Proportionate mitigations will be needed to avoid hundreds of thousands of new infections, until many more are vaccinated.
immunity will be achieved by vaccination for some people but by natural infection for others (predominantly the young).
infection can still cause substantial morbidity in both acute and long-term illness.
Five main concerns about unmitigated transmission
First, Disproportionately affect unvaccinated children and young people
17 million people with no protection against COVID-19
Exponential growth will probably continue until millions more people are infected
Leaving hundreds of thousands of people with long-term illness and disability
Risks creating a generation left with chronic health problems and disability
Second, transmission in schools will lead to educational disruption
Strict mitigations in schools and eventual vaccination of children
More important for clinically and socially vulnerable children
Third, emergence of vaccine-resistant variants
Spread of potentially more transmissible escape variants
Fourth, a significant impact on health services and exhausted health-care staff
Link between cases and hospital admissions has not been broken
Rising case numbers will inevitably lead to increased hospital admissions
Millions of people are waiting for medical procedures and routine care
Fifth, deprived communities are more exposed
Disproportionately affect the most vulnerable and marginalised
In light of these grave risks
Given that vaccination offers the prospect of quickly reaching the same goal of population immunity
we consider any strategy that tolerates high levels of infection to be both unethical and illogical
The UK Government must reconsider its current strategy and take urgent steps to protect the public, including children.
We believe the government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021.
Instead
Delay complete re-opening until everyone, including adolescents, have been offered vaccination and uptake is high
Mitigation measures, especially adequate ventilation
CO2 monitors and air filtration devices
Spacing in schools
With
Universal mask wearing in indoor spaces, even for those vaccinated
This will ensure that everyone is protected and make it much less likely that we will need further restrictions or lockdowns in the autumn.
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