and our understanding of it have evolved, this year. certainly on one thing, there s been no change we were told the vaccines worked, and they do. in the uk, as vaccinations increased, the number of hospitalisations dropped dramatically. the number of deaths dropped dramatically, too, right across the year. what was less clear was whether vaccines stopped infections. what we really don t know, though, at the moment, is, does the vaccine reduce transmission? does it block infection? that was in january. by the summer, the picture was clearer. what we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. they are less effective at preventing infection. the vaccines did reduce serious illness, but wouldn t stop the spread of the virus. delta in particular had made sure of that. and, by the end of the summer, it was also clear that two jabs would not be enough. people s immunity was waning.
particularly nasty. but it is within our power to be able to resist it. almost 12 months on, have we shown we can resist it? to answer that, we need to look at how this pandemic and our understanding of it have evolved, this year. certainly on one thing, there s been no change we were told the vaccines worked, and they do. in the uk, as vaccinations increased, the number of hospitalisations dropped dramatically. the number of deaths dropped dramatically, too, right across the year. what was less clear was whether vaccines stopped infections. what we really don t know, though, at the moment, is, does the vaccine reduce transmission? does it block infection? that was in january. by the summer, the picture was clearer. what we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. they are less effective at preventing infection. the vaccines did reduce serious
right across the year. what was less clear was whether vaccines stopped infections. what we really don t know, though, at the moment, is, does the vaccine reduce transmission? does it block infection? that was in january. by the summer, the picture was clearer. what we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. they are less effective at preventing infection. the vaccines did reduce serious illness, but wouldn t stop the spread of the virus. delta in particular had made sure of that. and, by the end of the summer, it was also clear that two jabs would not be enough. people s immunity was waning. and, in many richer countries, including the us, that s exactly what happened. we are announcing our plan to stay ahead of this virus l
evolved this year. certainly on one thing, there s been no change we were told the vaccines worked, and they do. in the uk, as vaccinations increased, the number of hospitalisations dropped dramatically. the number of deaths dropped dramatically, too, right across the year. what was less clear was whether vaccines stopped infections. what we really don t know, though, at the moment, is, does the vaccine reduce transmission? does it block infection? that was in january. by the summer, the picture was clearer. what we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. they are less effective at preventing infection. the vaccines did reduce serious illness, but wouldn t stop the spread of the virus. delta in particular had made sure of that. and, by the end of the summer, it was also clear that two jabs would not be enough. people s immunity was waning. and, in many richer countries, including the us, that s
dramatically. the number of deaths dropped dramatically, too, right across the year. what was less clear was whether vaccines stopped infections. what we really don t know, though, at the moment, is, does the vaccine reduce transmission? does it block infection? that was in january. by the summer, the picture was clearer. what we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths. they are less effective at preventing infection. the vaccines did reduce serious illness, but wouldn t stop the spread of the virus. delta in particular had made sure of that. and, by the end of the summer, it was also clear that two jabs would not be enough. people s immunity was waning. and, in many richer countries, including the us, that s exactly what happened. we are announcing our plan