Urgent plea for pregnant women and young Brits to get Covid jabs as case rates in 20s reach highest ever recorded
AN urgent plea for pregnant women and young Brits to get Covid jabs has been issued.
It comes as case rates in 20-29-year-olds have skyrocketed to the highest level recorded in any age since the pandemic began.
Shocking new data released today revealed younger people have been hit the hardest by the latest wave.
The latest Public Health England figures show those aged 20-29 have a seve-day case rate of 1,154.7 per 100,000 people.
It has resulted in renewed urges for them to ensure they get two doses of a Covid vaccine - to slash the risk of infection and serious illness.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England, said: “Case rates in people aged 20-29 are at the highest across any age group recorded since the pandemic began.
"Everyone in this age group should come forward and get their two doses of the vaccine to make sure they have the best chance of being protected.
“It is vital we all remain cautious. Remember that meeting outside is safer than inside, get two doses of the vaccine as soon as you can, isolate if you are told to by NHS Test & Trace and if you show symptoms stay home and get a PCR test.
"We all still have a part to play, Covid-19 has not gone away.
“Thanks to the vaccine, hospital admissions and deaths are not growing as quickly as previous waves. However, they are on the rise and we continue to closely monitor the data.”
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Health chiefs have also urged pregnant women to get their vaccination.
New data from PHE shows for the first time that 51,724 pregnant women in England have received at least one dose.
These were all women aged under 50 years of age, and of these, 20,648 women have received their second dose.
Dr Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “We recommend vaccination in pregnancy as it’s the most effective way of protecting women and their babies from severe illness and premature birth.
“We are concerned that increasing rates of Covid-19 infection will adversely impact pregnant women. Of the pregnant women in hospital with Covid-19 last week, 95 per cent were unvaccinated.
"We hope this reassuring data will help those undecided consider taking up the offer of a vaccine.”
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “It is brilliant to see so many pregnant women coming forward for their Covid-19 vaccines, ensuring they protect themselves and their baby from this awful virus.
“While uncommon, severe illness from Covid-19 is more likely in later pregnancy and infection increases the risk of a premature birth.
"The Covid-19 vaccines are one of the best defences against infection, preventing at least 11.7 million infections in England alone.”
Experts at the ZOE Covid Study app today warned more people's lives would be disrupted by the virus, long Covid and the 'pingdemic' that has forced many Brits into self isolation.
There are currently 60,019 new daily cases of the virus, across people who both have and have not received their coronavirus vaccine, according to ZOE data.
This is up 27.1 per cent from last week when 47,189 new infections were reported.
This week 36,250 people who have not been vaccinated tested positive for Covid, either through a lateral flow or PCR test.
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Earlier this week the last set of coronavirus restrictions were lifted in line with the government's road map out of lockdown.
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But cases are continuing to be high, with the North East suffering the biggest infection seven-day rate and the highest hospital admissions.
England's hospital admission rate has seen a 30 per cent rise on from last week, as many hospitals reports they are already struggling.