Professor Tim Spector, lead scientist on the ZOE COVID Study app, comments on the latest data: “The UK seems to be slowly waking up to the fact that COVID cases are too high, but the reality is they’ve been soaring for months and many countries have put us on their red list.
“Infections remain high in young people, and look to be spilling over into the 35-55 year olds. If these increases creep into the over 55s it could spell disaster for the NHS this winter.”
Concern for the older population as we once again head into the winter months was something that spurred the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to allow those more at risk to receive a booster vaccine.
Those eligible for a third dose include the following:
- Those living in residential care homes for older adults
- All adults aged 50 years or over
- Frontline health and social care workers
- All those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of Severe COVID-19, and adult carers
- Adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals.