it does indicate the vaccination, together with continued compliance with the protections that are still in place, is applying a firm pressure on transmission and therefore helping to reduce the overall health harms that the virus causes. all of that said, the nhs is still under significant and very severe pressure. case numbers, though they are now falling, do remain very high and higher than we would want them to be going into the winter period. and of course we know that a combination of factors pose a real risk that transmission will increase again through december and into the new year, as cold weather forces us indoors more and festive socialising gets under way. this risk remains very real and if it materialises would put significant additional pressure on the nhs. and of course, the risk has now been significantly increased at least potentially by the emergence of