The Covid-19 numbers
One year,
one month, one day, there will be declining
numbers of Covid-19 cases to celebrate.
But that time is not yet. Instead, the UK
daily cases are creeping up inexorably.
During the second half of November there were
about 45,000 cases each day, that is, 10,000
more than in the first half of the month.
Towards the end of November, even 50,000 was
reached, a number not seen since July.
Some 8 months ago, the UK cases hardly reached
3,000 on any day. At the moment, there is
no evidence of a sustained decline.
Indeed, a momentous milestone has recently been
passed. On 25 November, the UK total of
confirmed cases exceeded 10 million.
Daily Covid-19 deaths in the UK remain broadly
flat at about 150. They are flat because
many elderly have already died, treatment of
Covid-19 patients has improved and because the
vast majority of old people have now been double
or triple vaccinated. Yet there are still
some 7,500 Covid-19 patients hospitalised with
900 on ventilators. Hospitals have yet to
be tested in the impending, potentially
overwhelming, winter season.
Of course, vaccination numbers continue to
rise. Now 75% of the UK population have
had at least one jab, that is, 51 million with a
first jab and 46 million with a second.
Moreover, a total of 18 million third booster
doses have been administered.
Worldwide the picture is worsening. Total
cases have now exceeded 260 million with well
over 5 million deaths. The USA still tops
the daily infection table with an average of
100,000 cases per day, followed by newcomer
Germany with 50,000, the UK with 45,000 per day
and then France and Russia. The USA also
still dominates the total death table at 775,000
trailed by Brazil and India with the UK in
seventh place at 145,000.
The biggest numerical surge this month has
occurred in Europe. It has suddenly become
the Covid-19 epicentre. The UK data are
changing but less drastically. However,
those epidemiologists who say that the UK, of
all the European countries, is closest to the
end of the pandemic seem like optimists, or
utopians, or idealists, or romantics. As
ever, this wretched Covid-19 virus has not yet
finished with us.
Europe’s fourth wave
Many of Europe’s countries are beginning to
experience a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections,
hospitalisations and restrictions.
According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), in mid-November, weekly infections rose
by 7% across the continent and deaths by
10%. The WHO is ‘very worried’ about the
spread of Covid-19 within Europe. Some
experts have predicted that Europe could witness
between 300,000 and 500,000 more Covid-19 deaths
by Spring 2022. It’s getting bad out
there.
For example, the German chancellor, Angela
Merkel, has admitted that her country is in the
grip of a ‘dramatic’ fourth Covid-19 wave.
Daily cases have recently risen to record levels
of over 79,000, overtaking the UK rate for the
first time. Only those Germans who are
fully vaccinated are now allowed in restaurants,
cinemas, museums and concert venues.
Similarly across Belgium, a new series of
restrictions has been announced in an attempt to
avoid a further lockdown. Belgians must
now work from home for four days a week and
masks must be worn in bars, cafés, hotels and
restaurants. Likewise, amid record
confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths, the
Netherlands has implemented Covid-19 passports
for access to certain venues as well as a
general curfew from 20.00.
So far, the Austrian government has taken the
toughest European measures. First, in
mid-November, it imposed a lockdown on its two
million unvaccinated citizens. Second, a
few days later, it announced a full national
Covid-19 lockdown from 22 November for 10
days. Third, it became the first European
country to make Covid-19 vaccination a mandatory
requirement, with the law due to take effect
from 1 February 2022. About 65% of
Austria's population is fully vaccinated, one of
the lowest rates in Western Europe.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the country's daily
vaccination rate has risen sharply during late
November.
These, and other newly-enforced, restrictions
have been met with civil protest. Many
Europeans object to mandatory lockdowns,
compulsory vaccinations, infringement of rights
and privacy, especially by the usual culprits of
antivaxxers, conspiracy theorists, Uncle Tom
Cobley and all. These recent demands have
prompted peaceful demonstrations as well as
dangerous riots in several countries, notably
the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. So
what should governments do in the face of
surging cases? Let the pandemic run
freely?
The Omicron variant
This update is not a spoiler alert – it is the
inevitable – a new Covid-19 variant has been
announced. South African authorities
raised the alarm at 14.00 on Tuesday 23
November. It was apparently first
identified in Botswana and then turned up in
travellers to Hong Kong from South Africa.
This new variant is officially named as
B.1.1.529, registered by the World Health
Organization (WHO) as a variant of concern (VOC)
and colloquially known as Omicron, the fifteenth
letter of the Greek alphabet. What about
13 and 14, Nu and Xi? For a few hours it
was actually called Nu, but then someone
realised that the phrase ‘the new variant is Nu’
was somewhat foolish. Xi was also rejected
because of possible offence to China’s
president, Xi Jinping. So Omicron it is.
The UK Health Security Agency believes that the
Omicron variant is the most worrying it has
seen, and could be of greater concern than
Delta. Sajid Javid, the UK’s Secretary of
State for Health and Social Care, warned the
House of Commons that Omicron is, ‘of huge
international concern’ and that it ‘may pose
substantial risk to public health.’ Soumya
Swaminathan, chief scientist of the WHO, said
the new variant has ‘a number of worrying
mutations in the spike protein.’ In fact,
there are overall about 50 mutations including
32 on the spike protein and 15 on the
receptor-binding domains (RBDs), which are the
targets of most vaccines to stop the virus
entering the body's cells. In other words,
the shape of the Omicron variant’s spike protein
now looks very different and therefore the
current vaccines may not ‘fit’ sufficiently well
rendering them less effective, a property known
as vaccine escape.
The world responded rapidly to Omicron.
The UK government moved swiftly and on 26
November banned travel flights from South Africa
and five other southern African countries in an
attempt to prevent the arrival of Omicron in
Britain. The USA, EU countries and
Switzerland also halted flights promptly.
However, such embargoes are ultimately unlikely
to reduce the spread of Omicron, or any other
variants, but such a strategy could buy a little
time to understand the variant better and
prepare to tackle it more effectively. The
UK government’s current threefold plan is first,
limit Omicron’s entry into the UK – all UK
arrivals must now take a PCR test. Second,
limit Omicron’s spread within the UK – any
person in contact with a suspected case of
Omicron must now isolate for 10 days. And
third, bolster the UK defences – increase access
to vaccinations and drugs, such as antivirals,
plus booster jabs for all over 18-year-olds by
the end of January to be administered in
descending age order. In addition, there
is a return to compulsory mask wearing in shops
and public transport, and some other bits and
pieces of protective legislation. And
everything comes with Sajid Javid’s subtext –
‘so we can all continue to enjoy Christmas with
our families.’
Omicron’s arrival prompted other rapid responses
on 26 November – Black Friday indeed. For
example, the global stock markets suffered
widespread negative trading, plummeting by as
much as 4%. On the plus side, several
vaccine manufacturers confirmed that they were
ready to reconfigure their products if
necessary. For instance, BioNTech reckoned
it could tweak its mRNA vaccine within six weeks
with batches ready for shipping and jabbing
within 100 days.
The obvious questions have already been
raised. How many cases have been
reported? Is Omicron more transmissible
than other variants? How susceptible is
Omicron to current Covid-19 vaccines and
drugs? Is Omicron more virulent?
Will Omicron replace Delta as the principal
cause of Covid-19 around the world?
The answer to the first question is that the
number of Omicron cases has been increasing in
almost all provinces of South Africa. It
has also been identified in Botswana, Hong Kong
and Israel. And Omicron has now arrived in
Europe, with the first case confirmed in Belgium
on 26 November. Laboratories at Leuven
University reported a case of the B.1.1.529
strain after an unvaccinated young woman tested
positive on 22 November. On 27 November,
the first cases of Omicron were detected in the
UK – one in Brentwood and one in Nottingham,
though the infected people were known to each
other. These are but the first
cases. The Omicron variant has already
spread around the globe. It is now a
waiting game to see if case numbers can be
contained rather than spiral.
As yet, there is little hard scientific fact or
real-world information about the Omicron
variant. Will its increasing presence lead
to further restrictions? Will the public
accept another round of restraints, even severe
lockdown curbs? How widespread might a
community’s ‘pandemic fatigue’ be? What
about a straightforward return to hands, face,
space? These and other questions will be
topics of concern and conversation in the coming
weeks.
The first antiviral
drug – Lagevrio (molnupiravir)
On 4 November, the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorised the
UK to become the first country to approve the
use of molnupiravir, an oral antiviral
drug. Developed by the US companies Merck
Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and Ridgeback
Biotherapeutics, in trials, it was shown to
halve the risk of hospitalisation for Covid-19
patients. It is now set to be marketed as
Lagevrio.
The MHRA has authorised Lagevrio for people who
have mild to moderate Covid-19 plus at least one
risk factor, such as obesity, older age (>60
years), diabetes mellitus, or heart disease,
from developing severe Covid-19. And based
on the clinical trial data, Lagevrio is most
effective when taken during the early stages of
infection. So the MHRA recommends it is
used as soon as possible following diagnosis by
a positive Covid-19 test and within five days of
symptom onset.
The UK’s Secretary of State for Health and
Social Care, Sajid Javid, commented, ‘Today is a
historic day for our country, as the UK is now
the first country in the world to approve an
antiviral that can be taken at home for
Covid-19. This will be a game changer for
the most vulnerable and the immunosuppressed,
who will soon be able to receive the
ground-breaking treatment.’
On 19 November, some two weeks later, the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) informed EU
member states that they too could use Lagevrio
to treat Covid-19 in emergency cases.
The second antiviral
drug – Paxlovid (PF-07321332 and ritonavir)
On 5 November, the very next day after the
Lagevrio announcement, the US-based
pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, announced that its
own oral antiviral drug, a combination of
PF-07321332 and ritonavir and trademarked as
Paxlovid, reduced the risk of Covid-19
hospitalisations or death by 89% for those at
high risk of severe illness. In this Phase
2/3 clinical trial, 1,219 adults were enrolled,
with half receiving Paxlovid and the other half
receiving a placebo orally every 12 hours for
five days. Preliminary analysis showed
that only three patients who received Paxlovid
within three days of Covid-19 symptom onset were
hospitalised with no deaths reported. This
is compared with 27 in hospital and seven deaths
in patients who received a placebo.
Similar figures were seen in people treated
within five days of symptom onset. That
is, there were six patients admitted to hospital
in the Paxlovid group with no deaths, but in the
placebo group it was 41 hospitalised with 10
deaths. Besides drug efficacy the trial
also examined drug safety. With 1,881
participants, there were similar proportions who
experienced adverse effects, mostly of a mild
intensity – 19% in the Paxlovid group and 21% in
the placebo group.
The UK government has so far purchased 250,000
courses of Paxlovid alongside 480,000 courses of
Lagevrio, though the former has yet to receive
MHRA approval. The UK’s Secretary of State
for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid,
commented, ‘If approved, this could be another
significant weapon in our armoury to fight the
virus alongside our vaccines and other
treatments, including molnupiravir [Lagevrio],
which the UK was the first country in the world
to approve.’
Pfizer has since applied to the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for emergency authorisation
of Paxlovid. However, the move has
resulted in considerable unrest, especially
among bioethicists, because the application
includes the use of Paxlovid for unvaccinated
people. It is alleged this could undermine
the US vaccination programme by rewarding people
who have ignored public health advice and by
penalising those who have heeded it.
By mid-November, Pfizer reported on a deal that
will allow 95 developing countries to
manufacture and sell generic versions of its
Paxlovid pill. The agreement with the
Medicines Patent Pool will give 53% of the
world’s population access to Paxlovid.
However, the agreement excludes some countries,
such as Brazil, which already have massive, and
largely uncontrolled, outbreaks of Covid-19.
Update on monoclonal
antibody AZD7442 – Evusheld
Not to be left out of the rush to tame the
Covid-19 virus, AstraZeneca has continued to
trial its monoclonal antibody treatment known as
AZD7442. This non-vaccine treatment is a
combination of two long-acting antibodies
(LAABs), tixagevimab (AZD8895) and cilgavimab
(AZD1061). Both are derived from
components of the immune system known as
B-lymphocytes and donated by patients who have
recovered from Covid-19 infections. These
antibodies were initially isolated by scientists
at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in
Nashville, Tennessee, and subsequently licensed
to AstraZeneca in June 2020. The treatment
is now commonly known as Evusheld.
Evusheld is not a vaccine. Instead it
provides antibodies directly to the body via
intra-muscular injections. These bind to
distinct sites on the spike protein of the virus
stopping it from entering the body’s cells and
therefore preventing a Covid-19 infection.
Evusheld has been undergoing two separate
trials. In the Phase 3 human trial, known
as the PROVENT trial, two-thirds of the 5,197
participants were given a single 300 mg
intra-muscular dose of Evusheld in two separate,
sequential injections. It reduced the risk
of developing symptomatic Covid-19 infection by
77%. There were no cases of severe
Covid-19 or related deaths in those given
Evusheld, whereas in the placebo group, there
were three cases of severe Covid-19, which
included two deaths.
Data from the latest six-month assessment trial
of Evusheld, known as the TACKLE trial, were
based on 4,991 participants. This cohort
consisted of a wider age range of participants
who suffered from more comorbidities making them
more susceptible to Covid-19. Taken as a
preventive measure, that is, as a prophylactic,
a 300 mg dose of Evusheld reduced the risk of
symptomatic Covid-19 by 83%. When taken
three days after symptom onset, a 600 mg dose
cut the risk of severe illness or death by
88%. There were no cases of severe
Covid-19 or Covid-19-related deaths in either
the Phase 3 primary or the six-month
analyses. In the placebo arm of the trial
there were five cases of severe Covid-19 and two
Covid-19-related deaths. In addition,
doses of the antibody cocktail were generally
well tolerated, with no new safety issues
identified.
During mid-November, Bahrain became the first
country to authorise the emergency use of
Evusheld. AstraZeneca has agreed to supply
the US government with 700,000 doses, if the
treatment is granted emergency use authorisation
by the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). The UK had initially planned to
purchase one million Evusheld doses, but a deal
has yet to be signed.
Antibody therapy versus
vaccination and antivirals
Which is best, antibody treatment or
vaccination? They are fundamentally different
therapies. A monoclonal antibody drug, like
Evusheld, delivers laboratory-made versions of the
body's natural antibodies to fight infection.
On the other hand, a vaccine stimulates the body to
make its own antibodies and build its own
immunity. Are antibody treatments potential
alternatives to vaccines? Yes and no.
Antibody drugs cost significantly more, which may
limit their use to particularly high-risk
groups. Antibody doses typically cost above
$1,000 each, whereas a Covid-19 vaccine shot costs
on average between $3 and $30 per dose.
Evusheld also takes more time to administer, needs
to be given by a trained doctor or nurse, and
patients may require longer monitoring afterwards
than the 15 minutes following a vaccine. In
other words, it is not something that can be quickly
given in a pharmacy or health hub, so it is not
ideal for widespread, fast roll-out. Moreover,
basic data from ongoing antibody trials are still
needed, whereas the efficacy and safety of the
approved vaccines are now fairly well
understood. AstraZeneca has maintained that
Evusheld’s ‘real advantage’ is as a preventative
shot and little is known about its long-term
efficacy, pattern of waning, need for boosters and
so on.
Furthermore, the distinct roles of monoclonal
antibodies, such as Evusheld, versus oral antiviral
agents, such as Lagevrio and Paxlovid, is not yet
clear. Obviously delivery by mouth is easier
than by injection. And antivirals can be taken
at home. Yet their therapeutic windows
(before, at, or soon after Covid-19 onset) and their
target populations (the elderly, immunosuppressed,
those who do not respond well to vaccines, cancer
patients and so on) are likely to overlap.
There is plenty yet to be discovered and applied in
this fight against Covid-19. Big pharma
companies around the world are, even this very day,
creating and trialling new products. The need
is great. Billions have yet to be vaccinated
by dint of hesitancy or by lack of supply.
Thousands upon thosands of suitable patients have
yet to be offered antiviral or antibody therapies.
PHSMs, NPIs and BESSIs
Besides vaccines and drugs, such as antivirals and
antibodies, there are other Covid-19
treatments. They are known as public health
and social measures (PHSMs), or non-pharmaceutical
interventions (NPIs), or even behavioural,
environmental, social, and systems interventions
(BESSIs). But just how effective are
they? It is difficult to know because so
little relevant, high-quality research has been
completed.
A recent review, a meta-analysis study, of PHSMs
examined a total of 72 appropriate studies.
These findings by Stella Talic et
al., were reported as ‘Effectiveness of public
health measures in reducing the incidence of
covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19
mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis’ in The
British Medical Journal (2021, 375:
e068302, 18 November). Overall, the relative
reductions in symptomatic Covid-19 infections were
found to be 53% for mask wearing, 53% for
handwashing and 25% for physical distancing.
But these figures are open to severe
criticism. For example, the three reported
PHSMs were not independently assessed – those who
wash their hands probably also wear masks and avoid
crowds. And what sort of masks were
worn? Simple cloth or medical grade?
Moreover, what about other PHSMs? As Talic and
her colleagues stated, ‘Meta-analysis was not
possible for the outcomes of quarantine and
isolation, universal lockdowns, and closures of
borders, schools, and workplaces.’ Nor was the
effect of increased ventilation mentioned, though
socialising indoors in places with poor ventilation
is reckoned to increase the risk of infection.
Therefore opening windows and doors to ventilate a
room where people are meeting is another PHSM.
Assessing the effectiveness of PHSMs is undoubtedly
problematic. It would be nice to have a
quantitative value of each PHSM, but that is not
possible – the variables in the real world are
simply too great. Instead, only a more
qualitative assessment, driven by common sense, is
available – since the virus is spread primarily by
respiratory droplets, it makes sense to block or
filter that transmission route with a face covering.
After nearly two years of Covid-19, there is a
paucity of good research into PHSMs. Contrast
that with the billions poured into vaccine research
and production. Therefore the pragmatic
approach is to bundle the PHSMs and accept the
lot. Remember the government’s PHSM mantra
from 2020 – hands (frequent washing hygiene), face
(wearing well-fitting masks), space (physical
distancing) and some others too, including improving
ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded
places, and getting vaccinated. Simple and
cheap, but effective.
The gift of the jab –
Covid-19 and flu vaccinations
Winter is imminent. So are weakened immune
systems along with influenza and other contagious
seasonal respiratory illnesses. In a bad flu
year as many as 30,000 people in the UK are reported
to die from flu and pneumonia. Taking the last
12 months in the UK, a total of 40,000 people have
died from Covid-19. So, are deaths from flu
and Covid-19 numerically similar? Herein lies
a statistical anomaly because UK flu deaths are
often reported to be about only 1,500 each
year. But when pneumonia deaths are included,
as they often are reported together, the total death
toll typically becomes approximately 20,000.
And there is yet another caveat. Deaths are
officially reported either as ‘involving influenza
and pneumonia’ or as ‘due to influenza and
pneumonia’. The relevant UK data for 2020 were
112,000 and 20,500 respectively. Statistics
can be confusing!
These
two main streams of influenza and Covid-19
infections have similarities. They are both
viral. On the other hand, pneumonia can be
viral, bacterial or fungal. Moreover,
influenza and Covid-19 are both spread by close
contact via touching, or by respiratory droplets
released during talking, sneezing, or
coughing. The signs and symptoms of both
diseases are also similar. They both include
fevers, coughs, sore throats, headaches and so
on. Serious complications for both can be
pneumonia, organ failure, heart attacks, strokes and
so on. People with mild symptoms of either can
rest and recover at home – those with severe
symptoms of either need to be hospitalised.
Currently (late November), cases of the two diseases
are numerically dissimilar. Influenza activity
across the UK is very low. By contrast,
Covid-19 cases are slowly increasing and are now
consistently above 40,000 per day, some 10,000 more
than at the beginning of the month.
Yet both Covid-19 and flu can be significantly
prevented by vaccination. And that is why the
UK, and many other countries, are making vaccines
their primary defences against both diseases.
The race is on to get the greater proportion of the
UK population vaccinated. Primary, secondary
and booster doses for Covid-19 plus flu jabs are now
being made more widely available. True, there
is also a vaccine against pneumonia, known as
pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV). But
it is a one-off jab, typically given to the over-65s
to protect them from the most common cause of
pneumonia, the bacterium, Streptococcus
pneumoniae.
A booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine helps prolong
protection in the double-jabbed, particularly in
older age groups. According to UK Health
Security Agency data, having three doses offers a
93% protection against symptomatic disease. UK
government ministers have been urging millions of
Britons to get their Covid-19 booster jab by 11
December to ensure they have ‘very high protection
against Covid by Christmas Day.’
From 22 November, people across the UK have been (or
soon will be depending on their country of
residence) able to book their booster dose of a
Covid-19 vaccine. That includes more than a
million 40 to 49-year-olds immediately, and a
further eligible 1.5 million will be sent
invitations in the coming weeks. In addition,
booster jabs are available to those who are aged 16
or over with a health condition that puts them at
high risk from Covid-19, or a front-line health or
social care worker, or an adult who lives with an
immunosuppressed person. And from 30 November,
spurred on by the arrival of the Omicron variant,
the UK's policy has been expanded to offer all
over-18s a booster jab by the end of January, as
well as a second jab for 12 to 15-year-olds.
Variously, you can wait to be invited, book online,
call 119, or attend an NHS walk-in centre. Ts
& Cs apply!
By contrast, flu vaccinations have been offered
annually for many years by the NHS and now (in the
autumn) is the best time to get jabbed. 2021
and 2022 may yet be dire years for flu as fewer
people have built up natural flu immunity because of
the precautions taken during the Covid-19
pandemic. Moreover, if people contract flu and
Covid-19 at the same time, they are more likely to
become seriously ill. Taken separately or
together, the flu and Covid-19 vaccines are
considered to be generally both safe and effective.
Yet a tricky problem with flu vaccines exists.
Each year they have to be formulated to counteract
several, typically three or four, major mutated
strains of influenza. In other words, to allow
for manufacturing time, the components of the latest
vaccines are based on predictions of the likely
strains to appear well ahead in any particular
year. Put another way, the formula of the
vaccine is a guess, but an educated guess. Yet
such a guess affects a vaccine’s
effectiveness. Between 2015 and 2020, across
all age groups, flu vaccination in the UK prevented
15 to 52% of cases. Those may seem ineffective
prescriptions, but any protection to limit the
contraction, consequences and spread of flu,
especially among vulnerable older adults, is
welcome.
To help shield the population during the flu season,
the NHS is keen this year to offer free flu jabs to
those aged 50 and over, plus a range of other people
with certain health conditions. The NHS has a
target of 85% uptake among the over 65s and 75%
among the eligible under 65s. Again, Ts &
Cs apply.
The foolish Dr Foley
Christopher M Foley, MD, ABIM, was a 71-year-old
doctor in Minnesota. He was also a master of
spreading Covid-19 misinformation. On 15
October, he also ironically died of Covid-19.
After working for 22 years as a doctor in the
Minnesota health system, Foley retired and in 2001
he founded Minnesota Natural Medicine (MNM), a
private medical practice that he described as an
‘innovative crossroads between conventional and
so-called “alternative medicine” with chiropractic,
naturopathy, massage, acupuncture, and herbal
medicine all under one roof.’ He had his
admirers.
From the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, he
used his MNM website to broadcast his views on what
he called the ‘Wuhan virus’. In March 2020, he
stated that the virus was ‘likely a bioweapon’ and
he contended that homoeopathy could be ‘one of the
better weapons’ for fighting it. He also
became a prominent voice in Minnesota’s anti-mask
and anti-lockdown movement. In October 2020,
he wrote, ‘It is time to stop the lockdowns, take a
careful look at the damage that will continue if
they remain, and re-examine some of the rules
regarding personal protection equipment.’
Foley called Covid-19 vaccination a ‘human
experiment’, and proposed high doses of vitamins A,
C and D as alternatives. He also recommended
ivermectin as a prophylactic and hydroxychloroquine
as a treatment. He described masks as
‘downright dangerous to the individual (especially
children) if worn for extensive periods of time’,
and called mask mandates for children ‘abusive and
negligent’. He even reposted content from
Robert F Kennedy Jr, one of the USA’s most prolific
anti-vaccine advocates, who had been banned from
social media platforms for spreading Covid-19
misinformation.
Christopher Foley’s obituary reported that he died
‘after an unexpected illness’. At his funeral
service, his eldest son, Logan, confirmed, ‘He died
of complications from Covid. Was he
vaccinated? No, he wasn’t. If only he’d
been vaccinated, wouldn’t he still be here?
Obviously, we’ll never know.’ So was
Christopher Foley foolish? You answer that.
Word of the year 2021
As a measure of how much the Covid-19 pandemic has
entered human lives, consider this facet. The
lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary have
chosen as their word of the year for 2021, ‘vax’ or
‘vaxx’. The OED drolly declared that this
shorthand for vaccine had ‘injected itself into the
bloodstream of the English language.’
Moreover, its usage had broadened to vax cards,
fully-vaxxed and so on.
It all started back on 8 December 2020, when
Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world
to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19
vaccine. Since then, more than 100 million
doses have been administered across the UK, not to
mention the billions delivered worldwide. Yes,
2021 has seen a lot of vax. It is a deserved
prize-winning word.
But I still feel sorry for ‘jab’.