COVID in Britain Saanvi Kunisetty

 COVID in Britain

Saanvi Kunisetty

Britain’s response to fighting COVID and containing it has been one of the best out of most countries. They took the necessary precautions necessary during the pandemic, such as realizing that vaccine dosage distribution was far more important than negotiating its prices, implementing nationwide restrictions, and prioritizing first doses for the vaccine. Though it has overall been successful, the country is now being put to the test again. The Delta variant, first found in India, is now looming over Britain, with its presence possibly due to the reopening of society in the country. Though Britain has previously had a drastic decline in COVID cases before, this sudden upturn of cases proves to be concerning, because the more the caseload rises, the higher chance it has of continuing to rise. Still, there is hope. About 60% of residents in Britain are currently vaccinated, and more are due to be vaccinated. In addition, it is predicted that there will be a significantly less number of deaths in comparison to the last surge. 

So, what can we learn from this? First things first, vaccinations are the top priority. Not the prices, not the no-masks required, not the opening of society, stores, schools, and more, but vaccinations. It's the only way to keep all the residents of this country as safe as possible, and prevent a trend that continues to increase. Second, restrictions play a huge role in fighting this pandemic. The reopening of society definitely sparked something in Britain, and the same will apply to everyone else around the world. We should take careful cautions to prevent large social gatherings, especially indoor ones, with people who are not vaccinated or fully vaccinated. Finally, the number of COVID cases or COVID deaths aren't as reliable of statistics as they were before. Why? Well, with so many people getting vaccinated, of course the numbers are expected to decrease significantly. As these numbers become more and more insignificant, it is hard to draw connections between them and our progress against this pandemic, making it difficult to draw conclusions from this type of data.

Resources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/briefing/delta-variant-britain-covid-cases.html