Prime minister Boris Johnson will hold a Downing Street press conference at 5pm today alongside chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and NHS director Dr Nikki Kanani.
The announcement comes as data released on Wednesday showed that omicron is now the dominant Covid-19 variant in London and is rapidly spreading across the country.
At the same time as the conference, minister for levelling up Michael Gove will be chairing an emergency Cobra meeting with the devolved administrations at 5:15pm.
Mr Johnson is not expected to announce further covid measures at the press conference.
Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, told MPs on Wednesday to expect “quite staggering” figures on omicron growth in the next few days.
There have been over 4,700 confirmed cases of omicron but it is thought that the variant could be infecting as many as 200,000 people a day.
The prime minister will be joined at the press conference by Dr Nikki Kanani, a GP and medical director of primary care for NHS England.
GP practices across England have been asked to “clinically prioritise” Covid booster jabs over routine care. GPs will be on the front line of the desperate drive to ramp up booster vaccinations to tackle an incoming “tidal wave of Omicron”.
Wembley stadium will on Sunday join the growing list of venues where jabs are being administered, with Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge also due to host vaccinations.
Mr Johnson is aiming to get booster vaccinations to 20m Britons by the end of December, requiring a daily rate of more than 1m jabs a day, though Downing Street has set no daily target.
Following the return of some restrictions, including covid health passes for clubs, there have been reports that more rules could be introduced if infections keep soaring.
“Plan C” restrictions could include a return to social distancing and wearing masks inside pubs and restaurants.
The prime minister’s spokesperson told political journalists on Wednesday that there was no plan for further restrictions beyond Plan B rules that are already in place.
The prime minister has also committed to give MPs a vote before any further regulations are put in place, if they become necessary.
The spokesperson said that the Cobra meeting would discuss “the ongoing UK-wide response to omicron”, but stressed that it remained a matter for devolved administrations to decide their own public health measures.
