A summary thread of the latest #REACT survey from @imperialcollege on England infectivity.

The headline is very good news, prevalence has halved since the last round, falling from 0.20% to 0.10%, with R at 0.9 between the rounds.

Round 11 is between April 15 and May 3.

1/
115 positive samples were obtained from 127k tests. Note the slightly lower number of tests this round, which the report notes is due to a lower response rate, suggesting a lower interest in participants as the situation improves.

2/
Between rounds, R is put at 0.9, though slightly higher at 0.94 within the round. This is consistent with recent SAGE views, and not unexpected as the lockdown restrictions are gradually eased.

3/
By region, the SE is the only area to show an increase between R10 and R11. Although the CI's are wide, it's considered that there is a very high probability that the underlying situation is of R being greater than 1.

4/
By age, there's a similar situation with the 25-34 age groups of a small overall increase, now at 0.21% double the overall figure.

The biggest fall has been a two thirds fall in the 55-64 group, likely reflective of that group acquiring vaccine protection between the rounds.
5/
It's great to see the clear disconnect between deaths (in red) and prevalence since mid January, clearly showing that even if infected, the vaccine prevents serious illness and death.

6/
There's an effect on hospitalisations too, but it's much less marked, consistent with predictions made as the roll-out started that deaths would fall faster than hospitalisations.

7/
The report notes the presence of B.1.617.2 in around 7.5% of the cases for which a lineage could be identified, although this is only 2 out of 26 samples. The remainder were B.1.1.7.

8/
Note that REACT is a randomly sampled survey, which is the best way to ensure a true representation of the population, and which isn't affected by factors such as number of available tests.

9/
As one example, the vaccine may be increasing the proportion of cases which are asymptomatic. These are less likely to be picked up by PHE testing, or by surveillance methods reliant on self-reporting.

10/
So it is one of several methods of measuring the level and direction of prevalence, all of which have their benefits and weaknesses, and which should be considered in the whole rather than individually to assess the current position of the pandemic.
spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/1004…
11/END

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More from @john_actuary

13 May
I nearly missed today's 2 weekly antibody update from @ONS, so here's a brief summary. It's fairly disappointing though, with no material increases, and the modelled curves dipping.

E increases from 68.3% to 69.3% (65.6%, 73.9%)
W is up from 61.0% to 63.2% (58.8%, 68.3%)

1/ Image
S is up from 57.8% to 59.2% (54.8%, 64.4%)
NI is up from 62.5% to 63.5% (57.6%, 71.2%)

Of note the modelled curve for NI is increasing, although the increase from the last update is no greater than the others.

2/ Image
It's interesting that even the unvaccinated age groups are showing nearly 50% prevalence. Further up, the highest age groups are now rising again, as the 2nd dose takes effect, but lower down we're now seeing the dip that we saw earlier in the highest groups.

3/ Image
Read 4 tweets
13 May
Thu vaccine update (incl England weekly data)

637k total doses today, 17% up on last week, bringing the 7D total back to 3.6m, close to the late April high.

1st doses of 184k are up 32%, and are the highest daily total since March, bringing the 7D total close to 1m.

1/5 Image
A good day all round with 2nd doses of 452k up 12%, bringing the 7D total back up to 2.6m, and the overall total to just shy of 19m.

2/5 Image
On take-up, England 1st doses have made more progress in the 45-49 group and look as though they should just hit 80% in due course.

That would be 10% less than the band above, which is a little worrying in terms of a downward trend as we work down the ages.

3/5 Image
Read 5 tweets
13 May
The latest @ICNARC report on intensive care activity is out. With the situation now much improved now it enables a good comparison of the two waves (W1/2). A thread here on behalf of @COVID19actuary.

W2 patient admissions of 25,543 were well over twice that of W1 (10,951).

1/
Despite starting W2 much more slowly, London rapidly accelerated and ended up being the worst affected again in terms of population size, contrary to those who early on were suggesting that herd immunity from the first wave was protecting it.

2/
W2 developed more slowly, and extended over a longer period so the peak bed occupancy for W2 was not much greater than W1, but high volumes (and thus pressure on staff and resources) were sustained for a much greater period.

Recent levels were higher than last summer too.
3/
Read 19 tweets
12 May
Wed vaccine update (& Wales summary)

485k total doses, 26% up on last week, so the recovery from the BH continues, with the 7D total now up to 3.5m.

1st doses of 351k are just 6% up (unusually, less than the 2nd dose increase), but takes the 7D total ever closer to 1m.

1/5
2nd doses of 350k are up 36%, so another better day, albeit not at the level of 2 weeks ago.

The 7 day total is now back over 2.5m, which if maintained should be enough to keep up with the required pace for the next few days.

2/5
Wales 1st doses are settling down at 85% for the fifties, about 5% lower than the sixties. To date the forties have just hit 70% - hopefully that will continue to increase though.

Second dose progress seems to be concentrated in the 65-59 group currently.

3/5
Read 6 tweets
4 May
How soon to first dose all adults? We can look back around 11 weeks to D1 volumes to predict how many D2's are needed, and deduct that from an assumed supply - we'll say 3.7m for now.

The chart shows future D1 volumes - apart from 1 week it should gradually increase.

1/6
If we assume c85% of under 50s take-up the jab then we need to reach around 47m to have given everyone who wants it a first dose.

That will take until around 28th June. Any doses after that (above the grey line) can be used to rapidly accelerate second doses if appropriate.

2/6
If supply is less than 3.7m pw what difference does it make? Even dropping it to 3.3m only pushes it back two weeks, to July 12th, still well ahead of the govt's target of the end of July.
3/6
Read 6 tweets
3 May
Monday vaccine update: 50m passed!

We've now passed 50m total jabs, although today's total (excl Wales) of 255k is another disappointment, down a quarter on last week.

The 7D total continues to fall, to 3.4m.

As yesterday, the shortfall is all in the second doses.

1/5
171k for 2nd doses is down a third, and we are now barely ahead of my 11 week line. The 7D total of 2.6m is the lowest for a fortnight.

What's the prognosis for the next couple of weeks though?

2/5
The yellow line of 1st doses in Feb is now starting to fall, and will drop gradually from c3.1m pw to 1.9m over the next 4 weeks. That should mean it's a bit easier to keep up with the 2nd dose requirement, and hopefully give a bit more leeway for 1st doses too.

3/5
Read 5 tweets

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