Covid vaccines appear to have ‘broken link’ between infections, hospitalisations and deaths, NHS boss says
Hospitals in Covid hotspots are coping with current infection levels, Chris Hopson says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Coronavirus vaccines appear to have “broken” the link between infections, hospitalisations and deaths, according to the head of an organisation representing NHS trusts.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospitals in Covid hotspots were coping with current levels of infection.
They were also seeing a “significantly” lower death rate among people admitted for treatment, he told Times Radio on Wednesday.
“If - and it is a big if - if Bolton has gone through its complete cycle and if others areas follow Bolton, the view from the hospital there was that they were able to cope with the level of infections,” Mr Hopson added.
Bolton is one of the areas in England which has been worst-hit by the Delta variant and saw a rise in hospital patients last month amid its spread.
Mr Hopson from NHS Providers said it was important to “look at who’s being admitted into hospital and how clinically vulnerable and what level of acuity they’ve got”.
“What chief executives are consistently telling us is that it is a much younger population that is coming in, they are less clinically vulnerable, they are less in need of critical care and therefore they’re seeing what they believe is a significantly lower mortality rate which is, you know, borne out by the figures.”
“So it’s not just the numbers of people who are coming in, it’s actually the level of harm and clinical risk.”
Mr Hopson - whose organisation represents NHS hospital, ambulance, community, and mental health trusts in England- said there was a degree of confidence that vaccines have “broken” the link between infections and the “very high level of hospitalisations and mortality we’ve seen in previous waves”.
His comments come days after Public Health England (PHE) data showed the number of Covid cases had risen among all age groups - with the largest increase among young people - amid the spread of the Delta variant, which was first detected in India.
Towards the end of last month, PHE released data suggesting Covid jabs had prevented nearly 40,000 hospital admissions and saved more than 13,000 older people’s lives in England.
Back in April, research suggested vaccines had helped to cut emergency admissions among at risk elderly patients by 76 per cent.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments