UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned against a possible “tidal wave” Of Omicron, and set a target of giving booster dose to all above 18 by the end of December.
“No-one should be in any doubt: there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming,” he said in a address on television as the health experts of the country had advised to stay alert due to the “rapid rise” in cases due to the variant.
Johnson, under tension due to claims he and staff spurned Covid limitations last Christmas, referred to the spread of the change as “an emergency”, as Omicron was increasing each two to three days.
“We know from bitter experience how these exponential curves develop,” he further said.
The expansion in the five-stage Covid Alert Level from three to four comes after a further 1,239 new cases of the variant were reported on Sunday.
That brings the complete number of UK cases of Omicron to 3,137 – – a 65% increment from Saturday’s 1,898 cases.
UK started easing Covid restrictions in June and the alarm level was at stage three, which implies the pandemic is widely accepted.
Level four signifies “transmission is high and pressure on healthcare services is widespread and substantial or rising”.
The four chief medical officials for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland said the move was provoked by guidance from the UK Health Security Agency, a public health body.
“Transmission of COVID-19 is already high in the community, mainly still driven by Delta, but the emergence of Omicron adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services,” said the medical officials.
Earlier it was shown that Omicron is spreading too much quicker than Delta and that vaccination against infection from Omicron is decreased.
“Data on severity will become clearer over the coming weeks but hospitalisations from Omicron are already occurring and these are likely to increase rapidly.”
The officials said that the boosters were essential given that vaccine assurance was diminished with Omicron, and both third doses utilized – – Pfizer and Moderna – – expanded immune reaction and showed “good effectiveness”.influenza
The move is intended to lessen strain on the state-run National Health Service (NHS) which is managing occasional respiratory infections like influenza.
