Christmases for next five years could be hampered by Covid, expert warns
The IndependentGet the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. When asked if he thought enough was being done to avoid lockdowns and allow people to safely celebrate Christmas this year, Professor Spector replied: “We’re not doing enough.” Speaking at a Royal Society of Medicine virtual briefing, the Kings College London professor warned that people should not only be concerned about this Christmas but “Christmases for the next five years”. He added: “That’s clearly turning out not to be the case as we realise that vaccines alone, even in countries that have got higher vaccination rates than ours, are not the sort of final solution to this, that we need a combination of measures.” Professor Spector suggested that Covid-19 will “become like a permanent flu outbreak we have to deal with.” He admitted that though vaccines helped to limit the seriousness and the spread of the infection, they could not prevent every case of Covid-19. He said that other measures would be needed to “somehow control Covid.” “It’s a combination of vaccines and medicine, but also we need to keep some measures in place to keep numbers down and we’re not doing that,” Professor Spector added. “How high we want those rates to be is determined by our complacency and our relaxation to some of the rules we had in place that last year, I thought were over the top, and now this year I think are insufficient.” England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van Tam, said on Friday that this year’s Christmas could still be at risk from Covid-19.