Professor Chris Whitty interview: what did England’s chief medical officer say on the BBC about NHS ‘crisis’?

Professor Chris Whitty has said the next few weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic will be “the worst for the NHS”.

England’s chief medical officer (CMO) made the stark warning on the same day as seven new mass vaccination centres opened in England, as the government accelerates its inoculation programme.

His comments came as the number of patients in hospital with the virus reached an all-time high in England, and related deaths hit a grim 80,000 milestone over the weekend.

Here’s everything you need to know about what Professor Chris Whitty said about the crisis on BBC.

What did Professor Whitty say about the NHS?

The UK faces the “most dangerous time” of the pandemic in the coming weeks, Professor Whitty has said.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Monday 11 January, the chief medical officer urged members of the public to minimise “unnecessary contacts” and stay at home.

He warned: “This is going to be a significant crisis for the NHS unless we take evasive action.

“The next few weeks are going to be the worst weeks of this pandemic in terms of numbers into the NHS.

“What we need to do before the vaccines have had their effect… is we need to really double down.

“This is everybody’s problem and any single unnecessary contact you have with someone is a potential link in a chain of transmission that will lead to a vulnerable person.

“We’ve all got to as individuals help the NHS, help our fellow citizens by minimising the amount of unnecessary contacts we have.”

Record hospital numbers

Professor Whitty said there were over 30,000 people in English hospitals, compared to about 18,000 at the peak in April 2020.

He highlighted the risk of the new, more transmissible strain of coronavirus, and said it was “pushing things” in a way the original variant was unable to.

And the CMO echoed previous comments made by Michael Gove, stating England’s third lockdown could go on for “several more weeks” until springtime.

Speaking of the record number of people in hospitals, Professor Whitty added: "I think it is a shocking figure.

"Anyone not shocked by the number of people in hospitals and seriously ill and dying over the course of this pandemic has not understood this at all.

"This is an appalling situation – we are very close to the point that we can get on top of this, but it’s not yet."

How many people have been vaccinated so far?

Two million people have been vaccinated in the UK so far, Boris Johnson said on Monday 11 January.

Speaking as he visited a vaccination centre in the South West of England, the prime minister said that number equated to 2.4 million jabs.

Mr Johnson wants to vaccinate 14 million of the UK’s most vulnerable people by mid-February, which equates to more than two million jabs a week.

As well as the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, which are already being administered, the newly-approved Moderna vaccine is expected to arrive in the UK in March.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed on Sunday 10 January that all adults nationwide will have been offered a vaccine by autumn 2021.