Doctor describes Government's Covid restriction easing as 'utterly insane' - The Worcester Observer

Doctor describes Government's Covid restriction easing as 'utterly insane'

Worcester Editorial 10th Jul, 2021   0

A COUNTY doctor who has worked on the Covid frontline at a Birmingham hospital has described the Government’s decision to lift all restrictions as ‘utterly insane’.

Dr David Nicholl, from Hagley, said he felt the country should wait until 80 per cent of adults in England were fully vaccinated before relaxing the rules.

According to the latest figures, around 85 per cent have had one jab and 63 per cent both doses.

Dr Nicholl said: “We are seeing more younger people coming into hospital and more pregnant women at the moment.




“It is crazy to back off when we could wait until we’ve got higher rates of vaccinations.

“Vaccination rates in our area have been fantastic but there are still a lot of people who are not fully vaccinated.


“No other country in the world is taking this approach and there is a reason for that.”

Dr Nicholl said the Government should also wait for data from the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunity (JCVI) about giving the jab to teenagers.

The JCVI is specifically looking into whether the risks outweigh the benefits for younger people.

He added the JCVI had ‘got everything right so far’ and also retweeted an answer to a question by Dr Mike Ryan from the World Health Organisation who described the UK Government’s strategy as ‘moral emptiness and epidemiological stupidity’.

Bromsgrove MP and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid unveiled plans on Monday for all restrictions to be removed next Monday, including the wearing of masks, the one metre social distancing and school bubbles.

The Government said people could wear masks if they wanted and have been urged to trust their own judgement.

An example given by the Prime Minister saw Boris Johnson say he would wear a mask on a crowded tube train but not in a empty carriage on a late night cross-country train.

Mr Javid said he accepted cases would continue to rise but it was now a different situation with the high vaccination levels to protect people and the benefits of removing the restrictions outweighed the negative aspects, such as people’s mental health and the economy.

Data showed the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths had been ‘severely weakened’ but not broken.

Other easing of restrictions from August 19 sees those who have had both jabs and two weeks elapsed since their last one not need to self-isolate if they come into contact with a positive Covid case.

That same rule applies to under 18s to prevent disruption to education.

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