Do we know that? Hospitalisation is one thing, but debilitating Long Covid cases aren't exclusive to that.
The effect of vaccination on the prognosis of minor and moderate cases is one question I think hasn't been addressed.
And I've not read a thing on how harmful Delta may be in those terms relative to previous variants.
I've also no idea how the risk of repeated exposure to the virus is viewed.
I imagine very strongly we're looking at increased viral loads in the community - and I know this was previously associated with poor outcomes.
What of repeated exposure to the same variant? Does beating Kent then getting heavy exposure to Delta comes with any risk? What if you beat a small viral load, then get a huge one?
Difficult questions, for sure. The limited information from track and trace would seem to leave us with potential gaps in our understanding.
Surely it's far too soon for scientific opinion to be making confident judgements about that side of things, and thus the risks attached to this decision. But obviously, not too soon for a politician to start selling it on the basis that the questions aren't so much unanswered as hitherto unasked, which is the same thing as not part of the debate.
Boris made this deal to save his skin back in February. And no-one is as impatient as a Tory looking at a restriction on the economy. It's pretty much on the Tory party as much as him. It would seem they got Javid in despite Boris, and here we are. Look how much room that leaves Boris!
If it does go tits up, public opinion and the right wing of the party will end up living on different planes. Leaving the moderates to come crawling back to Boris, at which point, he just takes Javid out of the spotlight for a bit, frees up his 5 O'clock diary slots, messes up his hair a bit, and wheels out the "Uncle Boris-On-The-Telly-With-The-Vaccines" character. And presumably prorogue parliament again.
I think he gave it away when he said it was time for us to stop washing our hands, and for him to start.
