http://gizmodo.com/whopping-94-of-adults-in-england-have-covid-19-antibod-1847515379
England still sees 25,000 covid-19 cases per day but deaths have fallen
sharply since the height of the pandemic.
ByMatt Novak
Thursday 6:30AM
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People dancing at Egg London nightclub in the early hours of July 19,
2021 in London, England.
People dancing at Egg London nightclub in the early hours of July 19,
2021 in London, England.Photo: Rob Pinney (Getty Images)
A staggering 94.2% of adults in England have antibodies for covid-19,
according to a new report from the UK’s Office of National Statistics.
Roughly 80.7% of England’s population has been fully vaccinated,
suggesting the rest of the 94.2% acquired antibodies through natural
infection with the coronavirus.
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The report is great news for England, which has seen covid-19 rates
plateau at roughly 25,000 per day. Deaths have remained extremely low,
with a seven-day average of 81 covid-19 fatalities daily.
The UK more broadly has also seen a rise in antibodies among adults,
with 93.2% in Wales, 89.1% in Northern Ireland and 93.5% in Scotland,
according to the Office of National Statistics. Again, part of that is
from high rates of vaccination and part of that is through natural
infection.
The UK was one of the hardest hit regions for covid-19 with over 6.36
million cases and more than 131,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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The new report out of the UK should lift plenty of spirits for people
who want to get the covid-19 pandemic behind them. Though admittedly,
England has been wide open ever since it’s “Freedom Day” on July 19.
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“Across the four UK countries, the estimated percentage of adults aged
25 to 34 years who have received one or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
ranged from 82.3% to 90.1% – this has increased sharply since the end of
May,” the Office of National Statistics said in a statement early Thursday.
“A similar increase can be seen for those aged 16 to 24 years across the
UK since June, with between 51.3% and 56.6% reporting having had at
least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the week beginning 26 July
2021,” the statement continued.
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The Moderna vaccine was approved in the UK for children as young as 12
years old just this week, while the Pfizer vaccine was approved for that
age group a few weeks ago. Children under 12 are still not eligible for
any covid-19 vaccine in the UK, just as they aren’t in the U.S. yet either.
Most adults in the UK were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine,
which relies on older vaccine technology that doesn’t include Pfizer and
Moderna’s mRNA platform. But that will be fine for British adults in the
long run, since a new study has shown that while Pfizer worked better
than AstraZeneca for a few weeks, Pfizer’s efficacy wanes over time and
they both work about the same, according to the BBC.
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To be clear, every vaccine approved by the FDA has been shown to be
effective against covid-19, even the highly contagious delta variant of
the virus. So if you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, please make that
happen as soon as possible. You don’t want to regret going without the
vaccine, as so many people are learning the hard way around the world.
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