Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

VaccinationsCoronavirusOccupational HealthOHW+

Summer Covid surge risks long-term health issues for the young

by Ashleigh Webber 14 Jul 2021
by Ashleigh Webber 14 Jul 2021 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

The expected surge in Covid-19 infections over the coming weeks could leave hundreds of thousands of younger people with long-term health problems, researchers have warned.

As England prepares to remove all pandemic restrictions on 19 July, including mask-wearing and social distancing, a group of academics from institutions including Queen Mary University of London, the University of Sussex, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, have described the decision as “dangerous and premature”.

In their correspondence published in The Lancet, they say not enough people will have been vaccinated to achieve “population immunity” by 19 July. Young people face a particular risk of catching Covid-19 and falling ill as many have not yet been able to have their second jab.

“The UK health secretary has stated that daily cases could reach 100,000 per day over the summer months of 2021. The link between infection and death might have been weakened, but it has not been broken, and infection can still cause substantial morbidity in both acute and long-term illness,” they say.

Long Covid

Supporting long Covid as Britain unlocks

Extent of long Covid may be being under-reported in NHS, study suggests

OH access vital for long Covid return to work, says SOM

“This strategy risks creating a generation left with chronic health problems and disability, the personal and economic impacts of which might be felt for decades to come.”

They identify five main concerns with the government’s plans to lift all restrictions at this stage of the pandemic:

  • Unmitigated transmission will disproportionately affect unvaccinated children and young adults. “Even assuming that approximately 20% of unvaccinated people are protected by previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, this still leaves more than 17 million people with no protection against Covid-19,” they say.
  • The creation of a “reservoir of infection” over the summer months, which will result in an accelerated spread of the virus in schools and universities in the autumn as children and students will no longer need to self-isolate, despite having not been vaccinated.
  • The emergence of “vaccine-resistant” variants of Covid-19, which would place everybody at risk whether they have had a jab or not.
  • Further pressure on exhausted health workers, especially at a time when people are waiting for medical procedures and routine care after a pause last year.
  • A disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable and deprived communities, which would deepen inequality.

They recommend that the government delays the removing of restrictions until everyone, including adolescents, has been offered a Covid-19 vaccine and uptake is high. Until then, measures recommended by the World Health Organisation, including mask-wearing, should remain in place, they say.

They say: “In light of these grave risks, and given that vaccination offers the prospect of quickly reaching the same goal of population immunity without incurring them, we consider any strategy that tolerates high levels of infection to be both unethical and illogical… We believe the government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021.”

Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport magazines, touching on some of the employment and wellbeing issues experienced by those in road haulage.

previous post
Collective redundancies at six-year low
next post
The Power of Gen Z: Reshaping the future of the workplace (webinar)

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

NHS to end full pay for Covid-19 sick...

4 Jul 2022

Call for better workplace ventilation as Covid cases...

1 Jul 2022

Business leaders urged to prioritise wellbeing as we...

1 Jul 2022

The outdated views of the anti-hybrid working brigade

9 Jun 2022

What drives vaccine hesitancy among frontline workers?

9 Jun 2022

Warning of long Covid ‘postcode lottery’

9 Jun 2022

Sickness absence rate in 2021 was highest in...

8 Jun 2022

How good nutrition can help long Covid recovery

7 Jun 2022

Long Covid: phased return ‘unlikely’ to help workers

6 Jun 2022

Staff security clearance behind travel chaos, says trade...

1 Jun 2022

  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today