It comes after Public Health England reported a 79% rise in the number of cases of the variant first identified in India in a week. Hospital admissions have almost doubled. Experts say the sudden increase is being driven by infections among younger people. The vaccination programme was opened up to people aged 18 and over on Friday and surge testing is being rolled out in parts of south London and Cumbria... Prof Adam Finn, who is a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s going up, perhaps we can be a little bit optimistic it’s not going up any faster, but nevertheless it’s going up, so this third wave is definitely under way... Asked whether he felt confident that vaccinations would outpace the variant, he said: “No, I don’t feel confident, but I think there’s some grounds for optimism.”