Booster jabs will be offered to everyone over 18 in England from this week, as the UK Prime Minister declares an “Omicron emergency”.
The target to vaccinate all adults by the end of January will be brought forward by a month.
Some medical appointments could also be postponed so British hospitals are able to focus on administering the booster shots.
“No one should be in any doubt, there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming,” Boris Johnson says.
Christmas covid alert
Mr Johnson gave his update just hours after the UK’s Covid alert level was raised to four.
Level four means a high or rising level of transmission – and the last time the UK was at level four was in May.
“I’m afraid we’re now facing an emergency in our battle with the new variant Omicron,” Mr Johnson says.
“It is now clear that two doses of vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we all need. But the good news is that our scientists are confident that with a third dose, a booster dose, we can all bring our level of protection back up.”
British prime minister boris johnson
“At this point our scientists cannot say that Omicron is less severe.”
“And even if that proved to be true, we already know it is so much more transmissible that a wave of Omicron through a population that was not boosted would risk a level of hospitalisation that could overwhelm our NHS.”
The new booster target means people aged 18 and over in England will be able to get their third jabs from this week – as long as it has been three months since their second dose.
Early data shows that getting a third booster dose prevents around 75% of people getting any Covid symptoms from Omicron.
A further 1,239 new cases of Omicron were announced in the UK on Sunday, bringing the total number of UK Omicron cases to more than 3,000.
The actual number is believed to be much higher.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have already opened up boosters to over-30s – and those aged 18 to 29 in Scotland can get their booster jabs from later in the week.
