British government's plans to drop most pandemic control measures on July 19 called 'unethical experiment' in letter signed by 4,200 professionals

“We believe this decision is dangerous and premature,” they wrote in a letter to the Lancet medical journal.

“The UK Government must reconsider its current strategy and take urgent steps to protect the public, including children. We believe the government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021,” they added.

“Instead, the government should delay complete re-opening until everyone, including adolescents, have been offered vaccination and uptake is high, and until mitigation measures, especially adequate ventilation and spacing are in place in schools. Until then, public health measures must include those called for by WHO (universal mask wearing in indoor spaces, even for those vaccinated),” they wrote.

The letter, originally signed by a few dozen researchers, now has more than 4,200 online signatures.

“The government has made a deliberate choice to expose children to mass infection, rather than protect them in schools or vaccinate them,” said Dr. Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University, who organized the letter.

“This is unethical and unacceptable. Our young have already suffered so much in the past year, and are now being condemned to suffer the consequences of this dangerous experiment.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced restrictions would be lifted earlier this month, calling the 19th “Freedom Day” and asking, “If we can’t open in the next few weeks … then when can we?”

“Contrary to the statements of government scientists, there is no scientific consensus over the government’s current plans to remove protective mandates on July 19. Instead, there is deep disagreement,” Lancet editor Dr. Richard Horton said in a statement.

England takes a big Covid-19 gamble as Johnson sets out plan to scrap lockdown rules

“Many scientists are sincerely concerned that with sub-optimal double-vaccination numbers and rapidly rising transmission rates, we are at a very dangerous moment in the pandemic. Removing mandates on July 19 will not only accelerate virus transmission, with substantial increased levels of acute illness, hospitalization, and long COVID, but also create the conditions for the emergence of new variants that could escape vaccine protection.”

Dr. Eric Topol, an outspoken cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Unit in La Jolla, California, also signed the letter. “The abrupt rise in UK Delta variant cases will not only engender more long Covid, but has also already resulted in more severe illness, with hospitalizations and deaths. Taking more time to further improve vaccination rates should help reduce the toll of this superspreader strain,” Topol said in a statement.

The British Medical Association has also objected to the plans.

According to the British government, 86.4% of residents have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and 64.6% are fully vaccinated.

More than 32,000 new infections were reported Wednesday, with a sharp increase in new cases reported for July.

source: cnn.com