Speaking yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he did not want another national lockdown – but added new restrictions may be needed because the country was facing an “inevitable” surge in cases. The Prime Minister added the UK was “seeing a second wave” of the deadly virus.
However, Professor Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, said the situation was certain to be made more difficult by seasonal flu – suggesting the world was facing, what he called, a “twindemic”.
Prof Adalja told Express.co.uk: “Influenza and COVID-19 circulating at the same time is a concern because both of these infections will compete for the same hospital resources, personal protective equipment, and even diagnostic test reagents.
“This is why it is essential, because we have an effective flu vaccine, to increase vaccination rates against influenza so that we have room to deal with COVID-19 patients if transmission accelerates, as expected, in the fall and winter.”
Prof Adalja added: “There is definitely complacency regarding flu as evidenced by the relatively low uptake of the vaccine each year.
“Flu, because it occurs yearly, is something have we have got used to despite the enormous tool it takes.”
Nevertheless, the illness claims the lives of approximately 10,000 people every year in England and Wales alone, according to most estimates.
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“Researchers are still trying to understand their complex interactions — which could include having no effect, making one virus worse, or even having a protective effect on one or the other.”
Last month the Government pledged to undertake the biggest flu vaccination programme in history to ensure the NHS can cope this winter, with the aim of expanding the programme to cover half the population.
However, some Twitter users using the hashtag #FluVaccine have reported difficulties getting jabs.
One posted: “Just tried to book a flu jab….. “Delayed” or not available”.
Another added: “So, there’s a #FluVaccine shortage? Ace”.
A briefing yesterday organised by Independent SAGE, a group of scientists working together to provide independent scientific advice to the UK government and public, suggested the COVID-19 pandemic could spiral out of control in the UK within a fortnight.
Christina Pagel, Professor of operational research at University College London, told the briefing the nation was “not in a good place” and “on a knife edge”, stressing action needed to be taken immediately.
However, later on during the same day, during a trip to Oxford, Mr Johnson implied it was already too late.
He said: “We are now seeing a second wave coming in.
“We are seeing it in France, in Spain, across Europe – it has been absolutely, I’m afraid, inevitable we were going to see it in this country.”
