Covid vaccines might have prevented around 300,000 deaths in the UK, a scientist who helped create the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab has said.
In an interview with BBC's Andrew Marr, Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, also said that the UK is ahead of a potential rise in cases with the Delta variant.
He said “We have, with the Oxford vaccine, got to two billion doses. But if you look at all the developers, we’re at 7.6 billion doses out there.
READ MORE: Eleven residents at Coatbridge care home injected with saline instead of Covid vaccine
“Without those 7.6 billion doses globally, we’d be in a very different situation.
“So if we just look at the UK, the predictions last year were that there would be between 300,000 and 500,000 deaths.
“And actually when you look at the data on lives saved so far this year, we’re actually not far off to actually think that that is the right number, that we might have been at around about 300,000 deaths by now without a vaccine.”
And the professor suggested it is "unlikely" the Uk will see a sharp rise in Covid cases in the next few months.
It comes in comparison with parts of Europe, which have seen surges in the virus and infection levels, with some countries imposing further restrictions.
He said: “We’ve actually had some spread (of the virus) going on since the summer, and so I think it’s unlikely that we’re going to see the very sharp rise in the next few months that’s just been seen.
"We’re already ahead of that with this particular virus, the Delta variant.”
READ MORE: Poll: Do you think vaccine passports should be expanded?
Asked if the UK is close to herd immunity, Prof Sir Andrew said reaching the point where the virus no longer spreads is “not going to be a thing”, but added that vaccines are successfully slowing it down.
He said: “Unfortunately, this virus is going to be with us for decades ahead. If you mean slowing it down, then that’s something which the vaccines are already doing.”
He said coronavirus remains “a major global public health problem”, but added that in the UK “the balance is shifting because of the vaccine programme that has been in place”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel