Thread by @DavidParsley50

EXCLUSIVE: Sage scientist tells Government to ramp up booster jabs to avoid damaging fourth wave.
Prof John Edmunds says situation is ‘urgent’ and that Ministers need get teenagers jabbed as well as expanding boosters to all.
inews.co.uk/news/covid-boo…
@theipaper #COVID19 #CovidUK

Prof Edmunds: "We need to be more flexible about delivering vaccines to children to ensure that we reach them as soon as possible . . . It is critical that we give booster doses as rapidly as possible to older age groups – and perhaps the rest of us. This really is urgent now."

Prof Edmunds added: "The epidemic is concentrated in the young and unvaccinated. We [in England] are vaccinating them, but at a very slow rate. Scotland has done much better."

Prof Graham Medley, another member of Sage, said: "If these increases continue for another couple of weeks, then the situation will become more concerning. The epidemic is not over, and vaccination, testing and precautionary behaviour are still required."

Concern among Sage scientists is echoed by health providers, with The NHS Confederation demanding that the Government’s “Plan B” back-up strategy, including mandatory face coverings in crowded and enclosed spaces, should be implemented.

Just over 67 per cent of the UK population has received two doses of vaccine, according to Government figures. This compares with at least 75 per cent in Denmark, 79 per cent in Spain and 86 per cent in Portugal.

The weekly rate of new reported cases of Covid-19 in the UK has jumped from 367 cases per 100,000 people at the start of October to its current level of 463 per 100,000. Rates have dropped in neighbouring countries such as Spain (24 per 100,000), France (48) and Germany (80).