Prime Minister Boris Johnson warns that the country is facing a tidal wave of omicrons. Everyone over 18 will be offered vaccine refills before the new year, he says.
This means a sharp increase in the vaccine rate in England. Originally, the plan was that all adults should have been offered vaccine supplements before the end of January.
42 military planning teams will be deployed to achieve the very ambitious vaccine target, and some other appointments may be postponed in the health service to speed up vaccination. Additional vaccine rooms will be opened, and mobile devices will be used. Several thousand volunteers will also receive training in administering the coronary vaccines.
Also read: Intensive care nurses’ Christmas prayer: Vaccinate yourself!
– No one must be in doubt: There will be a tidal wave of omikron, Johnson said in a speech on British TV on Sunday night. He warned that it has not been confirmed that the variant causes milder disease.
Emergency
Johnson, who is under strong pressure due to accusations that he and staff members broke coronary restrictions during Christmas parties last year, described the spread of the omicron variant as an emergency.
The number of infected seems to double every other to third day.
“We know from bitter experience how these exponential curves develop,” Johnson said.
Also read: The Omikron variant results in far fewer deaths
On Sunday, a further 1,239 micron cases were confirmed in the UK. The total number of registered cases is thus 3,137. On Saturday, a total of 1,898 infected people were registered.
The BBC reports that preliminary data show that a third dose of vaccine prevents coronary symptoms due to omicron infection in around 75 percent.
Increased level of preparedness
Earlier Sunday, it was announced that the United Kingdom will raise the level of preparedness to 4 due to the spread of the new omicron variant.
The last time the level was at 4 was in May, reports BBC.
Level 4 means that there is either high or rising infection, and that it is required that people keep their distance from each other.
The chief medical officers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland state in a statement that the decision was taken on the advice of the UK Health Security Agency.
– The spread of covid-19 is already large in society, mainly driven by the delta variant of the virus. The emergence of omikron provides greater and rapidly increasing risk to the public and the health services, they say.
Vaccine expert Gunnveig Grødeland has her clear thoughts on what awaits us and how we should handle the situation:
Admissions
– Early signs show that omicron spreads much faster than delta, and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from omicron is reduced.
They add that data on the severity of the disease variant will become clearer in the coming weeks, but add:
Admissions as a result of omikron are already taking place, and the number will apparently increase rapidly.
They emphasize the need for vaccine replenishment.
(©NTB)
–
