July 15, 2021

what does winter hold for COVID-19 and UK health?

As we approach our second winter living with COVID, the Academy of Medical Sciences has brought together 29 leading experts to forecast what the biggest health challenges will be this winter, and how best to head them off.

Journalists joined the briefing to hear about their new report ‘COVID-19: Preparing for the future’, with three members of the report’s expert group, answering questions including:

• What are the main health challenges we could face this winter?
• Which other illnesses will cause deaths this winter?
• How prepared is the NHS to cope with the challenges of this winter?
• How far does the vaccination programme go towards a return to normal?
• How much has the pandemic affected our health so far?
• How will our life look in the future, and will we ever go back to normal?

Speakers included:

Prof Azra Ghani FMedSci, Member of the expert advisory group for the Academy’s report ‘COVID-19: Preparing for the future’ and Chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London

Prof Sir Stephen Holgate FMedSci, Chair of the Academy’s report ‘COVID-19: Preparing for the future’, Medical Research Council Clinical Professor of Immunopharmacology and Honorary Consultant Physician at the University of Southampton

Prof Dame Anne Johnson PMedSci, Member of the expert advisory group for the Academy’s report ‘COVID-19: Preparing for the future’, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of Comments.