Opinion: Why England should pursue a ’vaccine plus’ strategy

Instead of relying on vaccines alone, countries such as France and Germany are using extra measures to keep cases and deaths low - England should follow their example, argues Professor Christina Pagel (UCL Mathematics) in a co-authored piece with Professor Martin McKee. Only two months after being forced at the last minute to "cancel Christmas" in 2020, Boris Johnson committed to a "cautious and prudent" roadmap out of lockdown that recognised the evolving epidemiology of the virus. But memories are short. On 19 July, all social distancing and face-covering requirements, as well as limits on the number of people at indoor or outdoor events, were lifted in England. As the summer progressed, international travel restrictions were eased and fully vaccinated people and children were no longer required to isolate if they had been in contact with someone who contracted Covid-19. Some people in England, and many more elsewhere, watched with astonishment. Israel, a world leader in vaccinations, was already seeing the beginning of a rapid increase in cases driven by the new Delta variant.