a sage The advisor has said that Europe’s Kovid-19 lockdown The riots are ‘a warning to the UK’ and he urged Britons to get their booster jab.
Professor John Edmund said today that protests against sanctions on the continent have demonstrated the importance of vaccination, in particular that ‘it greatly reduces immunity’.
Austria has made vaccination mandatory and announced yesterday that it will return to lockdown on Monday Germany After health officials warned that they could not rule out a complete shutdown, health officials set out to follow suit.
It is the latest reintroduction of restrictions across Europe that have faced a fierce backlash and governments are looking to increase vaccination rates before winter amid a rising number of infections.
Riots and protests have erupted in cities, including Rotterdam, where police were forced to warn protesters marching against reimposing restrictions.
“What you see now with the rapid increase in cases in Central Europe, you see the importance of vaccination,” Edmund told Sky.
Image: A scooter is set on fire during a 2G policy protest in Rotterdam, Netherlands
But Mr Edmund said Britain was unlikely to be affected by the Christmas chaos as Britain is ‘in a slightly different position’.
He said: ‘Frankly, here in the UK, we have had a high rate of infection for several months, so we are in a slightly different situation from Austria and Germany and so on.
‘I don’t think things will happen here exactly as they have done there. But this is a warning to us. I think it’s pretty clear that immunity goes down.
‘I’m sure you still have some protection from the vaccine, but it’s nowhere near as strong as if you’ve been vaccinated. It is quite evident that the booster dose boosts your immune system very markedly.’
Professor John Edmund said the situation in Europe should act as a warning to the UK
Asked whether the government should resume containment measures, Mr Edmund told Sky: ‘Plan B measures, we could have implemented them at any time. It is the decision of the government to take this step.
‘They have to look at the potential effectiveness and measure that against the potential cost of some of those things.’
Last week the WHO warned that the continent was now the epicenter of the pandemic and said the rise in infections was “alarming”.
Ten thousand people are expected to protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Vienna today after the Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown to curb the rapidly growing coronavirus infection in the country.
Meanwhile, at least two people were shot and five others injured in Rotterdam last night as Dutch riot police opened fire on protesters as anti-lockdown protests turned into an ‘orgy of violence’.
Other European countries including Switzerland, Croatia and Italy are also expected to demonstrate against virus measures – the latest in growing anger over the resumption of restrictions amid rising cases on the continent.
Violent scenes erupted across Europe amid growing anger over coronavirus measures, with Austria beginning a complete lockdown on Monday and German ministers not adhering to their neighbor’s lockdown.
Sanctions have also been imposed in Germany – where they are banned from restaurants – as well as in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Dutch government has said it wants to introduce a law that would allow businesses to limit the country’s coronavirus pass system to only people who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19. Which will exclude people who test negative.
A music protest called by DJs in the southern city of Breda against current COVID-19 measures, which include the closure of bars, restaurants and clubs at 8 pm, will go ahead. Organizers say they expect several thousand people.
The Netherlands reimposed some lockdown measures last weekend for an initial three weeks in an effort to slow the resurgence of coronavirus infections, but daily infections remain at their highest level since the start of the pandemic.