UK: 60% of people being admitted to hospitals are unvaccinated

LONDON: Britain’s Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said that 60% of people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, correcting an earlier statement he made on Monday.

Vallance earlier said at a news conference with Prime Minister Boris Johnson that 60% of people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 have had two doses of vaccine.

“Correcting a statistic I gave at the press conference,” Vallance said on Twitter. “About 60% of hospitalisations from COVID are not from double vaccinated people, rather 60% of hospitalisations from COVID are currently from unvaccinated people.”

Correcting a statistic I gave at the press conference today, 19 July. About 60% of hospitalisations from covid are not from double vaccinated people, rather 60% of hospitalisations from covid are currently from unvaccinated people.

— Government Office for Science (@uksciencechief) July 19, 2021

England lifted all COVID-19 social restrictions on Monday, in what local media dubbed “Freedom Day”, although looming over the end to lockdown measures was a surge in infections caused largely by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.

COVID-19 restrictions are being implemented again in European countries after recent spikes.

The global tick-up in infections sparked concern among investors at the start of the week, forcing a sell-off in stock markets and a bid for bonds and the dollar, which spurred a sharp move lower in growth-correlated currencies such as the pound.