Health chiefs rush to speed up vaccine rollout as Indian variant becomes UK’s most dominant strain
Nick McDermott, Health Editor
3:43 ET, May 25 2021
HEALTH bosses are dashing to get more Covid jabs in the nation’s arms as it emerged the Indian variant is now the UK’s most dominant strain.
They have responded by speeding up the offer of second doses to the over-50s to get as many fully immunised against the contagious mutation as fast as possible.
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It came as experts said they were confident that Boris Johnson’s June 21 Freedom Day was “looking good” after research revealed two jabs were highly effective against the variant.
Viruses multiply by copying themselves over and over, but these copies can alter slightly as they go along – becoming a new variant.
Most of the time, these variants don’t alter much about the way the virus works. However, sometimes they can alter factors such as how quickly the virus spreads, whether it can evade the body’s immune response more effectively, or even the severity of the disease it causes.
When this happens, a variant will go from one that’s simply being monitored (also known as a variant under investigation) to one of concern – and that requires action to reduce its spread.
19 May 2021
Government launches implementation plan to deliver world-leading genomic healthcare to patients, improving diagnosis, treatment and prevention
Diversity and reach of genomics set to expand through engagement and research programmes to better treat deadly diseases such as cancer
Patients across the UK will benefit from better healthcare, treatments and faster diagnosis as the government sets out how it will continue to deliver world-leading genomic healthcare.
Genomics is the study of genetic information and can help diagnose diseases earlier and more accurately, reduce some invasive procedures and enable tailored treatments. Building on the success of the 100,000 Genomes Project, our commitment is to sequence 1 million whole genomes – 500,000 genomes in the NHS and 500,000 in UK Biobank, which will transform healthcare in the UK and create jobs. In 2018 to 2019, genomics contributed £1.9 billion to our economy.
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