HIGH Covid cases don't mean we are heading towards disaster this winter – the UK is just testing far more, an expert has said today.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, revealed the recently rocketing numbers are not concerning him at the moment.

He told a Government committee this morning: "It's really important not to bash the UK with our very high case rate because it is partly related to our very high test rate.

"If you look across Europe we have about ten times more testing per day.

"We do have a lot of transmission at the moment but it's not right to say that those rates are telling us something that we can compare internationally."

Last week daily Covid cases passed 50,000 for the first time in three months when a further 52,009 tested positive.

And it has been reported the UK has some of the highest weekly rates for new infections globally.

The rising cases have sparked fears of the return of face masks, working from home and vaccine passports.

The government's dreaded Plan B – or worse, Plan C – would see Britain plunged back into life more akin to lockdown.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned daily Covid cases could reach 100,000 a day – and if they do, ministers "won't hesitate to act".

But experts have said the country should row back on some freedoms now, to protect the NHS.

However, Sir Pollard seemed unshaken by the rise with full confidence in the vaccines still, and said the NHS is already struggling regardless of Covid numbers.

He added: "When we look at where the NHS is today it is incredibly fragile whether its in primary, secondary or social care and that fragility is impacted a small amount by Covid.

"The virus is evolving all the time, there is a new variant that may take off and is a bit better at transmitting and therefore escaping those immune mechanisms and i think that is our long term future with this virus. 

If we boost we will have much higher levels of antibodies at least in the short term and help to control that.

"But in the end the unvaccinated will meet the virus and if susceptible will end up in ICU."

Medical director of NHS England Professor Stephen Powis urged people to come forward and have their booster jabs so we can spend Christmas with our loved ones.

“The scale, speed and precision of the NHS Covid vaccination programme has cleared a path for the country to find its way out of the pandemic," he told The Telegraph.

"The freedom we now all enjoy, and hope to continue embracing, is a direct result of the country’s willingness and desire to come forward for a Covid jab when it has been offered."

People can have their booster jab six months after their second dose of the vaccine.

The booster jabs will help stop waning immunity, giving the most vulnerable an extra defence against the virus.

The importance of Covid boosters is why The Sun last week launched the Give Britain a Booster campaign.

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