In the UK, Freedom Day, July 19th, 2021, was the day England’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson declared the country could reopen as by that date, it should have been no longer necessary for the control of the pandemic to be managed with COVID restrictions. There were all lifted.
The timing was not without its controversy, especially with the rise of the much more contagious and possibly more deadly delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. Making matters even more risky, we now know that more than 80% of the COVID infections in the UK are caused by the delta strain and that it can be spread even by those who are fully vaccinated.
The jury is still out on how successful this bold reopening will be, but the week was encouraging for the general population as COVID cases continued to fall. Certainly the news is good for the economy.
There is reason for the UK to be cautiously optimistic. Thankfully in Britain, anti-vaxxers have had little influence. As of July 30th, more than 46 million people have had a first vaccine dose – nearly 90% of the adult population – and more than 37 million – over 70% of adults – have had both doses. Much better than in the USA.
But it’s not good news for everyone. In fact, the more “freedom” from masking and social distancing the greater community enjoys, the more locked down the vulnerable become.
No-one could better express the negative consequences for the immune compromised in both medical and psychological terms than our own friend, fellow CLL patient and advocate and longtime CLL Society international patient advocate member, Nick York of CLLAN and Leukaemia Care of the UK.
Nick tells it like it is in NEWS 4 his interview: Freedom Day’s Winners and Losers.
Brian Koffman MDCM (retired) MS Ed
Co-Founder, Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer
CLL Society, Inc.
