There may be as many as 50,000 more coronavirus deaths in the UK before the pandemic ends, a scientific adviser to the UK government has said.
Figures showing that two doses of a Covid jab are highly effective at preventing serious disease with Sars-Cov-2 have been hailed as evidence that restrictions in the UK can safely be eased when a higher proportion of adults have had both doses.
Wales has given two doses of a vaccine to 54.88% of adults, slightly below England on 57.37% but ahead of Scotland on 55.18% and Northern Ireland on 51.64%. Wales has however given out far more first doses.
Sage’s Calum Semple, a professor of child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool who is a member of the UK's Sage scientific advisory body, said that thousands more were still likely to die.
None of the vaccines are 100% effective and 12 people who have been double vaccinated have already died with the Delta variant in the UK.
Professor Semple told BBC Two’s Newsnight programme: “It would really not surprise me if we’re looking at another 40 to 50,000 deaths before this burns out.
“The deaths on the way up are likely to be mirrored by the number of deaths on the way down in this wave.
“Each one again is a tragedy and each one represents probably four or five people who survive but are damaged by Covid.”
So far, there have been 127,907 deaths in the UK within a month of a positive Covid-19 test. In Wales, there have been 5,572 deaths recorded by Public Health Wales and 7,863 by the Office for National Statistics.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales should not be "taking risks" by scrapping coronavirus restrictions while the number of people falling ill from the virus continues to rise.
Asked if Wales would be far behind England's July 19 date for the lifting of Covid-19 rules, Mr Drakeford told the PA news agency: "We expect to see the number of people falling ill from coronavirus in Wales rise over the weeks ahead because of the Delta variant.
"We are at least in the fortunate position in Wales that our vaccination programme has already gone considerably further than the programmes in England or Scotland.
"We're in a very different position than we would have been only a matter of months ago, and we need to protect the ground we've already gained by not taking risks that might undermine everything we've achieved together."
The UK government however has firmly committed itself to that date in England.
Something "unprecedented and remarkable" would need to happen for the July 19 "terminus date" for lifting Covid restrictions to be pushed back, Michael Gove said.
Asked about the circumstances in which the July 19 date could be extended further, Mr Gove told Sky News: "It would require an unprecedented and remarkable alteration in the progress of the disease."
He told BBC Breakfast that the future cannot be predicted with "perfect" confidence.
"But, insofar as we can be confident about anything in this complex world, we can be confident that the increased level of vaccination that we will have by July 19 should allow us to further relax restrictions," he said.
Mr Gove also said he wants "as few restrictions as possible" after July 19, but added that he will be "guided by clinical advice from doctors and scientists".
Asked if mask-wearing will be used over winter, he said: "I want as few restrictions as possible, but I'm not an epidemiologist or a virologist and I will listen to those who are and weigh their advice in the balance."
Covid-19 in England and Wales have risen slightly, new figures show - but the numbers are likely to have been affected by the late May bank holiday.
A total of 98 deaths registered in the week ending June 4 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is up from 95 in the previous week - a rise of 3%. However, differences between these two weeks should be interpreted with caution, the ONS said.
