Delta Variant Delays UK COVID-19 Reopening Plan

This article was originally published in ContagionLive.

As the COVID-19 Delta variant, which originated in India, sweeps through the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a delay in the country’s reopening.

England was posed to remove all of the remaining restrictions on June 21, but as cases are on the rise, public health experts are warning that the new variant may pose a significant risk.

The decision comes out of an abundance of caution, due to the Delta variant having been reported to be more transmissible than the strain that swept across the country over the winter.

In Thailand, delays in a mass inoculation effort continue amid one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 the country has seen since the start of the pandemic.

Health officials had initially planned to have 70% of the population vaccinated by the end of the year, but a week after the program was supposed to begin, many people have had their appointments cancelled. As of Monday, only about 3% of Thailand has been fully vaccinated.

In Italy, the government recently announced that it was restricting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to only those people over the age of 60. The decision comes after an 18 year old passed away after receiving the shot in late May.

Data Table per Our World in Data (June 13, 2021, 12 AM EST)

In the United States, California will fully reopen its economy and take away most social distancing rules on Tuesday, as the state has now administered 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Data Table per CDC COVID-19 Tracker (June 13, 2021, 6 AM EST)

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