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(Image: start) Nadhim Zahawi (pictured in London today) has claimed the UK will be the first country in the world to beat the pandemic Britain will be the first country in the world to beat the pandemic, Nadhim Zahawi claimed today — as experts insisted the UK will avoid a European-style wave of cases because it went ahead with 'Freedom Day'. Mr Zahawi, the former vaccines minister, said it was 'absolutely the right thing' to drop all restrictions in July and allow the virus to spread during the warmer months when the NHS was less busy — despite huge criticism at the time. He suggested the UK would be the first major economy to transition from pandemic to endemic because it frontloaded its Delta cases and is racing ahead of most of its EU neighbours in administering booster vaccines. There is currently a fresh wave of the Delta variant rollling across the continent that has sent nations back into draconian restrictions and triggered a wave of violent protests. The UK was slammed as the 'sick man of Europe' throughout the summer and autumn for consistently recording the highest levels of infection on the continent. But Mr Zahawi told LBC Radio: 'Our four-step plan meant that we were able to open up the economy in the summer.
Some said it was a mistake — I think it was absolutely the right thing to do.' In a sign that boosters could be rolled out every year, he added: 'We will probably, I hope, without being complacent, be the first major economy in the world to demonstrate how you transition (from) pandemic to endemic using vaccines.' Austria became the first in Western Europe to impose a nationwide lockdown today and the Czech Republic and Slovakia have put the unvaccinated under stay-at-home orders. Germany is also considering making vaccines compulsory. Violent protests also broke out in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Ireland web page over the weekend opposing curbs. But Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline that the UK was in a different position to its neighbours because it had so many infections earlier in the year. Sir John Bell, an Oxford University professor and Government adviser, echoed his comments, claiming that Freedom Day has 'given us longer-term protection'. He said he was confident that Christmas will be business as usual this year, telling Britons to 'order that turkey, because it'll all be fine.' And SAGE adviser Professor Peter Openshaw said it was likely the UK would avoid the need for more Covid curbs.
But he called for face masks to be re-imposed to bring down the infection rate. Many experts, however, argue that the epidemic is becoming increasingly unpredictable and Britain's daily Covid cases have been rising after children returned from half-term at the start of the month. But they say this is unlikely to lead to a major spike.
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DM.later('bundle', function() DM.molFeCarousel.init('#p-17', 'channelCarousel', “activeClass” : “wocc”, “pageCount” : “3.0”, “pageSize” : 1, “onPos”: 0, “updateStyleOnHover”: true ); ); (Image: start) Britain was seen as the 'sick man of Europe' in the summer after its Covid infection rate outpaced other nations.
But as the continent heads into winter many other European nations have seen their case rates storm ahead . The UK is testing up to 10 times more than its EU neighbours, which inflates its infection rate
(Image: [[|]]) But its booster drive has steamed ahead of others on the continent.
More than 20 per cent of Brits have now got a booster, which is almost double the level in Austria and three times that in Germany
(Image: [[|]]) The above graph shows the proportion of people fully vaccinated against Covid, who have received two doses, in western Europe.
It reveals that the UK has a similar jab uptake to many European nations
(Image: [[|]]) The above graph shows Covid hospital admissions per million people in Europe.
It reveals that Belgium and the Netherlands are recording a rise, but that they remain flat in the UK. Austria is not included in this graph because no data was available
(Image: [[|]]) The above graph shows Covid deaths per million people from the virus.
It reveals Austria and Belgium are starting to record surges
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Experts also highlight that the UK's booster drive is outpacing all its European neighbours who are starting to lock down again. Some 20 per cent of Brits are triple-jabbed, double the number in Austria — which today went into a full lockdown — and three times that in Germany, where vaccines are to set to become compulsory. German authorities have warned that everyone in the country will be either 'vaccinated, cured or dead' by the end of the winter. For comparison, Boris Johnson said last week there was still nothing in the data to suggest the country needed to shift to Plan B which would bring back face masks, social distancing and work from home guidance. <div class=“art-ins mol-factbox news halfRHS” data-version=“2” id=“mol-6710cdc0-4b89-11ec-93df-9d70c080dc57” website 'Freedom Day' saved UK from Europe's Covid Xmas chaos
