Covid - Plan B & Omicron
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Work from home but go to the Christmas party
Only if you work in Downing St.
The first people in the UK are in hospital with Omicron infections, Nadhim Zahawi has said.
The new variant of coronavirus now accounts for a third of cases in London, the education secretary said.
With two doses of a vaccine "not enough" Mr Zahawi encouraged people to get a booster jab - those aged 30 and over are eligible to do so from Monday.
As of Sunday, there have been 3,137 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the UK.
But the true number is likely to be far higher.
Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have warned that the UK will face a substantial wave of Omicron infections without further restrictions beyond the Plan B measures announced last week.
These include recommending people work from home if they can, expanding mask-wearing rules and introducing Covid passes for entry to some venues - with parliament to vote on the changes on Tuesday.
People in England with two or more jabs who are close contacts of Covid cases will be told to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days from Tuesday.
It means people in close contact with suspected or confirmed Omicron variant cases no longer need to self-isolate.
'Big wave'
It is "inevitable" that there was going to be a big wave of infections but what was not clear was the impact that would have on hospitals, she said.
She said the sheer weight of numbers of people being infected with Omicron means it will find the unvaccinated or people who have had a poor immune response to the vaccine.
"This is a big wave coming straight at us - if we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we are facing a very large number of hospitalisations and potential deaths," she said.
Mr Zahawi said that even if Omicron was less severe than other variants, due its infectiousness, "a small percentage of a very large population will put many people in hospital".
Although she described the current measures as "sensible", Dr Hopkins said more measures may be needed and said the government had "very difficult" decisions ahead.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers - the association of NHS trusts - described staff as "completely flat out and beyond full stretch" with it already being "busier than before at this time of year", even before the peak of the Omicron variant.
The booster roll-out in England has been expanded in response to the new variant and from Monday people 30 and over will be able to book their top up shots.
The time people have to wait between second and third vaccine doses has also been reduced to three months - rather than after six months.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was "very concerned about the new variant" and confirmed that his party would back the government's measures to slow the spread of Omicron.
But he accused the government of a "failure to plan" and being "behind the curve" with the booster programme.
Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan said new Covid restrictions were likely "in the next few weeks" in order to deal with the Omicron variant.
She added there "will come a point" where it is likely the Welsh government will advise people against attending Christmas parties.
It is "inevitable" that there was going to be a big wave of infections but what was not clear was the impact that would have on hospitals, she said.
She said the sheer weight of numbers of people being infected with Omicron means it will find the unvaccinated or people who have had a poor immune response to the vaccine.
"This is a big wave coming straight at us - if we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we are facing a very large number of hospitalisations and potential deaths," she said.
Mr Zahawi said that even if Omicron was less severe than other variants, due its infectiousness, "a small percentage of a very large population will put many people in hospital".
Although she described the current measures as "sensible", Dr Hopkins said more measures may be needed and said the government had "very difficult" decisions ahead.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers - the association of NHS trusts - described staff as "completely flat out and beyond full stretch" with it already being "busier than before at this time of year", even before the peak of the Omicron variant.
The booster roll-out in England has been expanded in response to the new variant and from Monday people 30 and over will be able to book their top up shots.
The time people have to wait between second and third vaccine doses has also been reduced to three months - rather than after six months.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was "very concerned about the new variant" and confirmed that his party would back the government's measures to slow the spread of Omicron.
But he accused the government of a "failure to plan" and being "behind the curve" with the booster programme.
Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan said new Covid restrictions were likely "in the next few weeks" in order to deal with the Omicron variant.
She added there "will come a point" where it is likely the Welsh government will advise people against attending Christmas parties.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59627188
The new variant of coronavirus now accounts for a third of cases in London, the education secretary said.
With two doses of a vaccine "not enough" Mr Zahawi encouraged people to get a booster jab - those aged 30 and over are eligible to do so from Monday.
As of Sunday, there have been 3,137 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the UK.
But the true number is likely to be far higher.
Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have warned that the UK will face a substantial wave of Omicron infections without further restrictions beyond the Plan B measures announced last week.
These include recommending people work from home if they can, expanding mask-wearing rules and introducing Covid passes for entry to some venues - with parliament to vote on the changes on Tuesday.
People in England with two or more jabs who are close contacts of Covid cases will be told to take daily lateral flow tests for seven days from Tuesday.
It means people in close contact with suspected or confirmed Omicron variant cases no longer need to self-isolate.
'Big wave'
It is "inevitable" that there was going to be a big wave of infections but what was not clear was the impact that would have on hospitals, she said.
She said the sheer weight of numbers of people being infected with Omicron means it will find the unvaccinated or people who have had a poor immune response to the vaccine.
"This is a big wave coming straight at us - if we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we are facing a very large number of hospitalisations and potential deaths," she said.
Mr Zahawi said that even if Omicron was less severe than other variants, due its infectiousness, "a small percentage of a very large population will put many people in hospital".
Although she described the current measures as "sensible", Dr Hopkins said more measures may be needed and said the government had "very difficult" decisions ahead.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers - the association of NHS trusts - described staff as "completely flat out and beyond full stretch" with it already being "busier than before at this time of year", even before the peak of the Omicron variant.
The booster roll-out in England has been expanded in response to the new variant and from Monday people 30 and over will be able to book their top up shots.
The time people have to wait between second and third vaccine doses has also been reduced to three months - rather than after six months.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was "very concerned about the new variant" and confirmed that his party would back the government's measures to slow the spread of Omicron.
But he accused the government of a "failure to plan" and being "behind the curve" with the booster programme.
Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan said new Covid restrictions were likely "in the next few weeks" in order to deal with the Omicron variant.
She added there "will come a point" where it is likely the Welsh government will advise people against attending Christmas parties.
It is "inevitable" that there was going to be a big wave of infections but what was not clear was the impact that would have on hospitals, she said.
She said the sheer weight of numbers of people being infected with Omicron means it will find the unvaccinated or people who have had a poor immune response to the vaccine.
"This is a big wave coming straight at us - if we see even half the severity that we saw with Delta then we are facing a very large number of hospitalisations and potential deaths," she said.
Mr Zahawi said that even if Omicron was less severe than other variants, due its infectiousness, "a small percentage of a very large population will put many people in hospital".
Although she described the current measures as "sensible", Dr Hopkins said more measures may be needed and said the government had "very difficult" decisions ahead.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers - the association of NHS trusts - described staff as "completely flat out and beyond full stretch" with it already being "busier than before at this time of year", even before the peak of the Omicron variant.
The booster roll-out in England has been expanded in response to the new variant and from Monday people 30 and over will be able to book their top up shots.
The time people have to wait between second and third vaccine doses has also been reduced to three months - rather than after six months.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was "very concerned about the new variant" and confirmed that his party would back the government's measures to slow the spread of Omicron.
But he accused the government of a "failure to plan" and being "behind the curve" with the booster programme.
Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan said new Covid restrictions were likely "in the next few weeks" in order to deal with the Omicron variant.
She added there "will come a point" where it is likely the Welsh government will advise people against attending Christmas parties.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59627188
Our Christmas will not be effected this year, we as a family have done everything that has been asked there will be no more from us even my kids have had enough, in fact everybody i know are saying feck it when you have a bunch of numb nuts who do what they want how do they expect the public to react, right time for a beer and onwards and upwards stiff upper lip 
The UK's coronavirus alert level has been raised to level four due to the spread of Omicron, the UK's chief medical officers have said.
The last time the UK was at level four was in May.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to make a televised statement on Covid at 20:00 GMT on Sunday.
He is expected to provide an update on the booster programme. The BBC understands there will not be any new restrictions imposed.
On Sunday evening, the chief medical officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said they were recommending the coronavirus alert level is raised from level three to level four, which signifies Covid is spreading fast.
Risk levels are measured by a five-level, colour-coded alert system. Level four means a high or rising level of transmission.
In their statement, the chief medical officers said early evidence shows the Omicron variant is spreading much faster than Delta - and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced.
"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 NHS is currently under pressure mainly driven by non-Covid pressures. With a variant spreading with increased transmissibility and reduced vaccine effectiveness, we are likely to see this pressure rise soon."
The Covid alert level system is separate and independent from any government decisions on easing or tightening restrictions.
It is not yet known exactly how well vaccines work against Omicron.
But early data shows that getting a third booster dose prevents around 75% of people getting any Covid symptoms from the variant.
It comes as more than half a million booster jabs and third doses were given in the UK on Saturday - only the second day that has happened since the booster rollout began.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59629916
The last time the UK was at level four was in May.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to make a televised statement on Covid at 20:00 GMT on Sunday.
He is expected to provide an update on the booster programme. The BBC understands there will not be any new restrictions imposed.
On Sunday evening, the chief medical officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said they were recommending the coronavirus alert level is raised from level three to level four, which signifies Covid is spreading fast.
Risk levels are measured by a five-level, colour-coded alert system. Level four means a high or rising level of transmission.
In their statement, the chief medical officers said early evidence shows the Omicron variant is spreading much faster than Delta - and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced.
"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 NHS is currently under pressure mainly driven by non-Covid pressures. With a variant spreading with increased transmissibility and reduced vaccine effectiveness, we are likely to see this pressure rise soon."
The Covid alert level system is separate and independent from any government decisions on easing or tightening restrictions.
It is not yet known exactly how well vaccines work against Omicron.
But early data shows that getting a third booster dose prevents around 75% of people getting any Covid symptoms from the variant.
It comes as more than half a million booster jabs and third doses were given in the UK on Saturday - only the second day that has happened since the booster rollout began.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59629916
Shirley Bassett
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I wonder if he’s taking questions after the briefing.
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Bernie
Landlord.
How did many infections suddenly overwhelm the health service when we don't know if the Omacron variant has even led to one death?
Not if they include the word Christmas
It is explained in this part below -
In their statement, the chief medical officers said early evidence shows the Omicron variant is spreading much faster than Delta - and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced.
"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 NHS is currently under pressure mainly driven by non-Covid pressures. With a variant spreading with increased transmissibility and reduced vaccine effectiveness, we are likely to see this pressure rise soon."
The Covid alert level system is separate and independent from any government decisions on easing or tightening restrictions.
SWMBO had her booster yesterday she didn't have any effect from the AZ double but is feeling a bit rough today.
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Same with mine - whereas I was pretty rough for 48 hours after my AZ 1 & 2, but just had a bit of a sore arm from my booster.
It's worth emphasising - if it's more than 3 months since your 2nd jab, get a booster from a walk-in centre ASAP if you can't get an appointment before Christmas.
Bernie
Landlord.
They know it's highly transmissable yet have no idea how the people who have been tested feel. How do they know that the vaccine is less effective without any information on the severity of any illness?
I don't know any more than you do all i can do is assume they are getting information off countries that have more of the population effected by this variant, at the end of they day they have to try to protect the NHS as they said "The NHS is currently under pressure mainly driven by non-Covid pressures. With a variant spreading with increased transmissibility and reduced vaccine effectiveness, we are likely to see this pressure rise soon." if they don't things may go from bad to a lot worse in a very short period of time.
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Because it takes on average 28 days to die from Covid, and Omicron is doubling every 2.5 days. Which means that if you wait for somebody to die from it, every case of omicron will have turned into 2000 cases.
Exponential growth is brutal.
Bernie
Landlord.
We're still confusing transmissability with virulence.
The news from South Africa does not report deaths.
Deal with the diseases that do occupy the health service.
We're still conflating trnsmissability with virulence.
Every infectious disease spreads at exponential rate, even when infections fall. If the numbers were constant it would be exponential behaviour.
The point is that other nations' health services aren't being overwhelmed.
We are being told if you get this it will probably be mild but in older people and those with other issues it may not be and if they have to go into hospital its going to put strain on the NHS at the worst time of year.
Read this again -
"The NHS is currently under pressure mainly driven by non-Covid pressures.
With a variant spreading with increased transmissibility and reduced vaccine effectiveness, we are likely to see this pressure rise soon."
"When to get a booster:
At least 6 months after completing your primary COVID-19 vaccination series"
That's directly from the CDC site. I wonder why the UK has a three month span to receive a booster and we have a six month span?
At least 6 months after completing your primary COVID-19 vaccination series"
That's directly from the CDC site. I wonder why the UK has a three month span to receive a booster and we have a six month span?
Ours was originally 6 months but they shortened it 3 recently.
When will I get a booster vaccine?
People aged 40 and over, health and social care workers and those with a health condition that puts them at high risk are now able to book their jab three months after their second dose.
Those under 40 will be invited in due course, in order of age. The government and the NHS are asking people in these younger groups to wait until they are called forward.
In England, the government expects that all eligible adults aged 18 and over will be offered a booster vaccine by the end of January.
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informations...nd-your-health/covid-booster-vaccine#Heading1
Thanks.
Did they mention specifics of why that soon, science-wise, or something like that?
This is all i can find on the government site -
Booster vaccinations are being be offered in order of descending age groups, with priority given to the vaccination of older adults and those in a COVID-19 at-risk group.
Offers of a booster dose should be given at a minimum of 3 months of completion of the primary course. This is an update from the previously advised 6 month interval.
Changes to the guidelines have been put in place to accelerate the programme, optimise individual protection ahead of a potential wave of infection and reduce the impact of the Omicron variant on the UK population
Booster vaccinations are being be offered in order of descending age groups, with priority given to the vaccination of older adults and those in a COVID-19 at-risk group.
Offers of a booster dose should be given at a minimum of 3 months of completion of the primary course. This is an update from the previously advised 6 month interval.
Changes to the guidelines have been put in place to accelerate the programme, optimise individual protection ahead of a potential wave of infection and reduce the impact of the Omicron variant on the UK population
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