Tidal Wave Of Omicron Variant: PM Johnson Accelerates Booster Program, UK Raises Alert Level

JAKARTA - The UK is facing a 'tidal wave' of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine not going to be enough to contain it, UK PM Boris Johson warned Sunday, as he accelerated the launch of a booster dose programme.

Speaking hours after government scientists raised the COVID-19 alert level to 4 on a scale of 5, PM Johnson said the booster program should go faster, as scientists don't yet know whether the Omicron variant is lighter than the other variants.

To note, Level 5 on the COVID alert level, the maximum alert level, means health services are at risk of being overwhelmed.

The UK raised its COVID alert level on Sunday in response to the rapid spread of the Omicron virus variant, as medical authorities warned that hospitalizations were likely to increase sharply over the coming weeks.

"The Omicron tidal wave is coming," PM Johnson said in televised statements on Sunday evening, citing Reuters December 13.

"And I am concerned that it is now clear that two doses of the vaccine are not enough to provide the level of protection we all need."

He further explained, with the Omicron variant known to be more infectious than the other variants, the National Health Service (NHS) would struggle to cope with hospitalizations if it were to tear apart the population that was not scaled up.

"Every eligible person aged 18 and over in the UK will have the opportunity to get their booster before the New Year," said PM Johnson.

Data released on Friday last week showed the vaccine's efficacy against symptomatic infections was substantially reduced against the Omicron variant with just two doses, but the third dose increased protection by more than 70 percent.

To achieve the accelerated launch target, military planning teams will be dispatched and new vaccine sites opened.

Previously, PM Johnson had responded to the emergence of Omicron by introducing a "Plan B" in the UK, ordering people to work from home, wear masks in public and use vaccine passes to slow the rate of infection.

Separately, the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland recommended raising their alert level to 4 from level 3 on a 5-point scale, meaning they rate transmission of the virus high.

"Preliminary evidence suggests that Omicron variants spread much more rapidly than Delta and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced," the medical staff said in a joint statement.

"Data on severity will become clearer over the coming weeks but hospitalizations from Omicron are already occurring and this is likely to escalate rapidly," the statement said.

"Both booster vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, increased the immune response substantially and showed good effectiveness although with some reductions compared to Delta," the authorities said.

Many Conservative MPs, however, voted against the measures in parliament on Tuesday, with President Johnson saying there were no plans for further restrictions as cases spike.

The seven-day average of COVID cases by reported date has risen in recent days above 50,000, the highest since the January peak during the latest wave of the pandemic.

With 146,439 deaths recorded in the 28 days after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, the UK has the highest death toll in Europe from the virus.