Good morning. Britain’s “one-jab” strategy is working, offering lessons for the world.
One jab is doing the jobThe global leaders in Covid-19 vaccination rates are Israel and the United Arab Emirates. After them come a handful of countries that have each given between 30 and 45 shots for every 100 residents, including the United States, Britain, Bahrain, Chile and Serbia.
But these handful of countries have followed two different strategies. The U.S. and most others have tried to make sure that anybody who gets a first vaccine shot gets the second shot within a few weeks (except in the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot). Britain has instead maximized the number of people who receive one “jab,” as the British call it — and has delayed the second jab, often for about three months. Kate Bingham, a venture capitalist who led the committee that advised the British government on vaccination, has described the strategy this way: “I think it’s the right public health response, which is to show that you try and vaccinate as many people as possible, as soon as possible. Better to protect everybody a bit rather than to vaccinate fewer people to give them an extra 10 percent protection.” So far, the data suggest that Britain’s approach is working — because even a single shot provides strong protection against the virus. A delay seems OKAs Dr. Robert Wachter of the University of California, San Francisco, has written, “According to most vaccine experts, delaying shot #2 by a few months is unlikely to materially diminish the ultimate effectiveness of two shots.” In Britain, the daily number of new Covid cases has fallen by more than 90 percent since peaking in early January. The decline is larger than in virtually any other country. (In the U.S., new cases have fallen 79 percent since January.) Given that the contagious B.1.1.7 variant was first discovered in Britain and is now the country’s dominant virus form, “Britain’s free-fall in cases is all the more impressive,” Wachter told me. “Clearly their vaccination strategy has been highly effective.” British deaths have also plummeted in recent weeks:
Britain’s approach not only brings immediate benefits, in terms of lives saved; it also reduces the chances of future outbreaks: The fewer people who have Covid, the fewer who can infect somebody else. That’s especially important when more contagious variants are circulating. Worldwide, the number of confirmed new cases has risen 21 percent over the past month. It is probably too late for the U.S. to change policy and adopt the British approach. Doing so would create widespread confusion and frustration. Still, there are lessons from Britain:
All of this comes with the usual caveat: If the data changes, the lessons should change, too. Based on the current evidence, though, Britain appears to have landed on the most effective vaccination strategy — which is yet another sign of how powerful the vaccines are. The latest: A delay of millions of doses ordered from India will most likely slow Britain’s vaccination campaign in coming weeks.
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Bright, crunchy and tart, salad-e Shirazi is a Persian salad that pairs well with practically every meal. March Madness Instead of filling out a bracket, try The Times’s prediction challenge. (You don’t need to be a college basketball expert to give it a shot!) And this guide may just answer all your questions. Virtual Travel Take a look at life in Canada’s remote and pristine Northwest Territories, home to Indigenous peoples of many cultures and languages. Late Night Putin wished Biden “good health” — the hosts were skeptical. Take the News Quiz Which movie earned the most Oscar nominations this year? Take this week’s News Quiz and compete with other Times readers. Sign up here to receive the quiz in your inbox every week. Now Time to Play
Enjoy our bonus game — Ditloids. (And let us know what you think of it in this survey.) The answers to yesterday’s: “6 = Y. in a U.S. S. T.” meant years in a U.S. senator’s term, “5 = F. on a H.” meant fingers on a hand and “4 = J. on ‘T.V.’” meant judges on “The Voice.” Today’s are: 3 = E. (and V.) of a T. 2 = S. P. N. 1 = U.S. S. with a M. N. (M.) The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was biological. Here is today’s puzzle — or you can play online.
Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Fish and chips fancier (four letters). If you’re in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you Monday. — David A clarification: Yesterday’s newsletter said that about 1 percent of Covid patients in the U.S. had been hospitalized. I should have been less definitive and said — as the chart in the newsletter showed — that estimates of the hospitalization rate range from 1 percent to 5 percent. P.S. The Times received Oscar nominations this week for “Time,” one of the company’s first feature-length documentaries, and the Op-Doc “Alone.” You can see today’s print front page here. Today’s episode of “The Daily” is about Gov. Andrew Cuomo. On “Still Processing,” Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris discuss a toxic racial slur. Lalena Fisher, Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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