COVID-19: Health Secretary Matt Hancock Warns Indian Variant May “Spread Like Wildfire” Among Unvaccinated People | Political news

There is a “high degree of confidence” that vaccines protect against India’s variant of COVID-19 – but it can “spread like wildfire” among those who haven’t had a bite, Matt Hancock said at Sky News.

The Health Secretary has urged those who are eligible for vaccination – but have not yet made an appointment – to show up to get their vaccine as he warns of the possible impact of the Indian variant.

Mr Hancock said the variant may ‘spread even faster’ than the Kent variant, which led to the second deadly wave of infections in the UK this winter, with a total of just over 1,300 cases found in the country so far.

He said she was “becoming the dominant strain in parts of the country” like Bolton and Blackburn.

In Bolton, where a number of people have ended up in hospitals with the Indian variant, the “vast majority” had been eligible for a COVID vaccine but had not yet had one, Mr Hancock said.

He compared the current situation in the country to “a race between the vaccination program and the virus”, the Indian variant having “given the virus some extra legs in this race”.

There were concerns that the spread of the Indian variant in the UK could derail the government’s roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions.

But Mr Hancock said the easing planned tomorrow for the third stage of the roadmap – allowing mixing inside households – will continue.

And a decision would be announced on June 14 as to whether the country would move to step four a week later, when ministers aim to remove all legal limits. contact.

“We have to be careful, we have to be careful, we have to be vigilant and we have said – at every step – that we will look at the four tests that we have,” Mr Hancock told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday. show.

“We evaluated them last week for the move we are making as a country tomorrow and our evaluation was that all four are satisfied.