Omicron is spreading at a “phenomenal rate” and 10 people in England have now been hospitalised after getting infected with the Covid variant, health secretary Sajid Javid has said.
Mr Javid said there had been no deaths yet confirmed in England, but revealed that omicron was probably behind around 40 per cent of infections in London and warned the NHS could be overwhelmed without a rapid expansion of the booster programme.
“What we now know about omicron is that it’s spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we’ve never seen before – it’s doubling every two to three days in infections,” the minister told Sky News.
“In England, there’s about 10 people that are confirmed in England with omicron,” said Mr Javid, who said he did not know how seriously ill the omicron patients are in hospital.
The health secretary added: “At this point in time I can’t confirm a death [from omicron] … There is always a lag between infection and then hospitalisation and then, sadly, death.”
Encouraging people to come forward for their booster jab, Mr Javid added: “We’re facing a tidal wave of infection, we’re once again in a race between the vaccine and the virus.”
Boris Johnson said on Sunday evening that the nation must “urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection” as he set the new deadline of getting everyone over 18 a booster by the end of December – which would mean jabbing almost a million people every day.
The prime minister said scientists had discovered that two doses of a vaccine is “simply not enough” to prevent the spread of the new variant and that without a massive expansion booster campaign the NHS could be overwhelmed.
The NHS booking system will be open for those over the age of 18 from Wednesday, though it is hoped many young adults will be able to use vaccination walk-in centres from today.
The “emergency operation” will be assisted by deploying 42 military planning teams across every region and setting up additional vaccine sites and mobile units, and the clinics will be open seven days a week.
Prof Robert Read, a member of the Joint Committee for Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI), told LBC radio that scientists already knew omicron was “highly infectious, transmissible, and it will get through the UK population pretty quickly.”
He said the severity of illness was not yet known but people were vulnerable, especially the unvaccinated, warning: “We need to get those third doses in to as many adults as we possibly can, just in case this virus turns out to be a raging bull just rather than a pussy cat.”
It comes as the boss of the organisation which represents NHS trusts said pressure on the health service is “not sustainable” as the UK faces a wave of omicron Covid infections.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, told Sky News: “It’s a worrying time, but as you’d expect everybody on the NHS frontline is doing absolutely the best they can to provide the best possible care.”
He added yesterday’s request from the prime minister for “extraordinary effort” comes as staff are “very, very tired”, adding: “I think staff are worried, to be frank, that this level of pressure is going to become normalised and it’s not sustainable.”
The NHS will have to postpone some planned appointments in order to meet the target of giving every adult in England a booster jab by the end of the year.
Mr Javid said it “should not be the case” that people die because they can’t get treatment on the NHS during the Covid booster drive.
The health secretary said some appointments and some surgical procedures may be “pushed into the start of the new year” while vaccinations are ramped up, bust said there will still be a focus on “urgent need”.
Asked about people who fear they might have cancer, who are normally seen within two weeks, Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That will be completely unaffected. That is an urgent appointment.”
