A year later, frustrations and protests increase

LONDON – When the first coronavirus blockade was imposed in the UK exactly a year ago, most would have struggled to consider that restrictions on public and private life would still be in place 12 months later.

With that a reality, there are growing signs that the British public is becoming frustrated with the restrictions, with protests against blockage hitting the capital over the weekend.

While the UK has set a roadmap for lifting restrictions, with the government aiming to light up most Covid curbs by June 21, there have been smoke signals in recent days that the government does not expect normal life to resume even then . .

Government ministers and health experts who advised them have made a number of comments suggesting that summer vacations are now “highly unlikely” given the situation in other parts of Europe where coronavirus cases are on the rise due to new variants of the virus.

Another health expert – the head of immunization at Public Health England – suggested on Sunday that masks and social distance measures might be needed for several years.

The government has also indicated that it wants to expand its power to undo any relaxation of measures and, thanks to the support of the opposition Labor party, is expected to receive approval to extend the emergency powers until October, despite a group of lawmakers within the ruling Conservative. Party. describes the move as “authoritarian”.

Combine these factors and a summer of freedom for the British public is starting to look more unlikely, potentially paving the way for more public discontent as Britons become desperate to return to ‘normalcy’. Especially as the roll-out of vaccines continues to accelerate; on Saturday, a record-breaking combined total of 844,285 first and second doses were given to those lining up for the injection, versus 711,157 people who received a vaccination dose on Friday.

March 23 marks the first anniversary of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement to the British public that the country would be locked up, with the government implementing unprecedented measures in peacetime designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus that first surfaced in the then largely unheard of Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

When Johnson made the first ‘stay at home’ announcement, which citizens have now become accustomed to, the UK reported a daily jump in deaths from the virus, with 335 deaths in 24 hours in hospitals. and healthcare professionals struggling to understand Covid-19 and effective treatments.

A year ahead and the UK is in the disgraceful position of having recorded the fifth highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, after the US, Brazil, India and Russia, according to a Johns Hopkins University census. To date, the UK has reported more than 4.3 million infections and more than 126,000 deaths – the fifth highest number of deaths worldwide, after the US, Brazil, Mexico and India.

A minute’s silence will be held in the UK on Tuesday to reflect on the deaths from the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement that “the past 12 months has taken a tremendous toll on us all, and I offer my sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones.” He added that the country had shown “a great spirit of our nation” over the past year.

The reasons for the higher death toll in the UK compared to its continental counterparts in mainland Europe are many, but underlying factors include a higher obesity rate, pre-existing health problems and socio-economic factors.

The government, for its part, was severely criticized for being late locking, failing to carry out border checks and checks on incoming travelers to the UK, not adequately protecting health workers and running an inadequate testing and tracking system. still considered below par. In short, it is accused of being unprepared for a pandemic and mismanaging one when it arrived.

One ray of hope, and a saving grace, has been the highly regarded scientific community in the UK, which has been at the forefront of research on the virus, its effects and trials to see how best to combat it. For example, in June 2020, British health experts led by the University of Oxford discovered that a low-cost steroid treatment, Dexamethasone, could significantly lower the risk of death when given to the most critically ill Covid patients.

An even bigger breakthrough came when the University of Oxford and Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical AstraZeneca successfully developed and tried one of the few effective vaccines, with the creation of the shot being even more remarkable given that vaccines can take years to develop. Vaccine research in the UK has also been boosted by government funding.

The UK was the first country in the world to approve and implement the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in early December, and quickly launched a national immunization program that gained momentum.

In January, the AstraZeneca vaccine was added to the arsenal and the vaccination program grew increasingly vigorous, surprising even the most cynical of Britons and applauding the country’s health experts and the National Health Service for its bold decision-making and well-managed rollout.

Unlike other countries in Europe, which have falsely questioned the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people over 65, the UK continued to implement mass immunizations with priority to the elderly and health professionals.

Health experts also believed (criticized at the time but now replicated in other countries) that the gap between the first and second doses of the used coronavirus vaccines should be extended to 12 weeks to provide more initial protection for more people. .

The decision was confirmed by subsequent clinical data showing that the strategy was effective and even increased the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The rollout has exceeded expectations; According to government data, more than 27.6 million British adults received a first dose of a vaccine and more than 2.2 million had their second injection on 20 March.

There is a palpable restlessness among the public – especially those who are against lockdown at all – and the corporate world, for the reopening of society. The anti-lockdown protests in London last weekend drew thousands of protesters calling “Freedom!” Called out. as they marched through the capital. Later, clashes between police and protesters led to more than 30 arrests.

So when it comes to the vaccine, it’s a case of “so far, that good.” The UK has seen the benefit with the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily decreasing.

The speed of the rollout was considered critical, at a time when new variants of the virus were emerging and potentially threatening to undermine the positive effects of the vaccines.

Mainland Europe is seeing the ramifications of the perhaps understandably slower rollout, given that the EU chose to order vaccines as a bloc and, crucially, order them later than the UK and US.

In addition to slower supplies and production problems, the EU has faced a reluctance to use vaccines, which are not common in the UK, and red tape, again a factor that is less of an issue in Britain, where healthcare is largely an up and down. connected centralized system.

But this week, the UK faces a potential challenge to its rollout as EU leaders, meeting almost Thursday, decide exports of Covid vaccines made in the bloc to countries, such as the UK, which are further ahead in their immunization programs. , to block.

Johnson has reportedly tried to mitigate such a move by speaking to his counterparts in France and Germany over the weekend. But if the EU continues, the UK could face even more supply bottlenecks; it already anticipates an inventory shortage due to a reported slowdown in exports from an Indian manufacturing facility.

Delays could cost Britain’s so far successful rollout, and citizens their freedoms, although the government has said so far that it still plans to offer a first dose of a vaccine to all adults by July 31.