Brits urged to get Covid booster as data shows triple-jab protection is best way to beat Omicron

A THIRD jab can combat Omicron and save us from more lockdown pain, says a morale-boosting study.

Any two doses plus a Pfizer booster give up to 75 per cent protection, experts say.



New Omicron strain cases could hit a million by the New Year but the rollout is flying with Santa already jabbed


Brits were last night urged to get Covid boosters as new data showed triple-jab protection is the best way to beat the Omicron variant

Brits urged to get Covid booster as data shows triple-jab protection is best way to beat Omicron
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘This data shows how important boosters are’

New strain cases could hit a million by New Year but the rollout is flying, with Santa jabbed, left.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This data shows how important boosters are.”

Three shots also defend better against severe disease or death — but two doses will soon fail to prevent even a third of cases.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This data shows how important boosters are.”

New strain cases could hit a million by New Year but the rollout is flying with Santa jabbed, pictured. 

Mary Ramsay, jabs chief at the UKHSA, said: “These early estimates show that, a few months after the second jab, there is a greater risk of catching Omicron compared to Delta.

“But the data suggests this risk is significantly reduced following a booster vaccine.

“We expect the vaccines to show higher protection against the serious complications of Covid-19.”

Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said: “It’s great news that the boosters take our protection back up to 70 to 80 per cent — now it’s vital that we get them rolled out.

“We know vaccines are better at protecting against severe disease than infection so I think we will see that that is high again.

“If you’ve had two doses and a natural infection you’re probably going to be quite well protected, too.

“The bad news is that Omicron is a lot more infectious than Delta but hopefully it will slow down. Ultimately it’s going to have to burn itself out.” 

There have been 1,265 Omicron cases so far in the UK but none has yet been admitted to hospital.


Brits urged to get Covid booster as data shows triple-jab protection is best way to beat Omicron
Confirmed cases of Omicron have reached 1,265 but there are likely thousands more, UKHSA says

Health chiefs said the results were “not as bad as we feared” and it is now mission critical for the booster rollout.

It is hoped huge take-up of jabs — especially boosters — will spare Brits from further lockdown misery.

Santa joined Trending In The News’s Jabs Army campaign yesterday and the millions getting a booster jab.

Volunteer Adrian Withers, 62 — who dressed up as Saint Nick — and nurse Bridget Gallagher, 25, give hundreds of doses of the jab every day at the PSM Pharmacy Practice in Tolworth, Surrey.

 Adrian said: “We have more and more people coming to our pharmacy every day asking for their booster.” 

Trending In The News is asking for a further 25,000 NHS volunteers to sign up to our campaign and help get Britain vaccinated. It comes as the Government speeds up the vaccine rollout to 500,000 jabs a day.



Queues formed at vaccine centres across the country yesterday including a mobile unit at Teesside University in Middlesbrough. So far 22million Brits have had the top-up. Another 620,000 booked appointments on Thursday and Friday.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This new data shows how important booster jabs are to protect us against this variant.

“They are our best defence and we have turbocharged our rollout programme — inviting seven million more people over the age of 40 to get their booster.”

 Another 448 cases of the new variant were counted yesterday — nearly double Thursday’s figure. Cases of the mutant strain could hit a million by the New Year. 

 Scientists estimate the R rate of the variant is 3.7 — meaning every positive person infects another three to four people.

Experts fear it could lead to massive hospital admissions. 

The UK Health Security Agency’s study looked at infection rates in 580 Brits with Omicron compared to those with the Delta strain.

 It found that antibody levels are up to 20 times lower against Omicron than Delta. Protection from illness tumbled to 30 per cent after two doses of Pfizer, and even lower for AstraZeneca. But when a booster is added into the mix, protection from Omicron is up to 75 per cent.

Professor Jonathan Ball, of University of Nottingham, said: “Few people expected vaccines to prevent against infection or even mild disease for the long term.

“The amount of antibody killing measured in the lab is lower, but importantly the booster reinstates much of that killing effect.”



An encouraging study by the UK Health Security Agency estimates two doses of any jab plus a Pfizer booster will give 70 to 75 per cent protection from illness


Santa and his elves joined Trending In The News’s Jabs Army campaign yesterday and the millions getting a booster jab

 4million not jabbed



Only 40.4 million of England’s 44.5 million adults had their first vaccine by December 5. All over-18s have been eligible since June.

MORE than four million adults still have not had a Covid jab, NHS figures show.

 Only 40.4 million of England’s 44.5 million adults had their first vaccine by December 5. All over-18s have been eligible since June.

London has some of the lowest vaccine uptake, along with areas in Liverpool, Birmingham and Essex.

NHS chief Amanda Pritchard told hesitant Brits: “It is never too late to get your lifesaving Covid vaccination. With the twin threat of Covid and flu, we are facing a winter like no other.”

Jason Strelitz, public health director for Newham, East London, added: “People are still out there, still open to the idea of getting vaccinated — I think that’s really clear.”

The rollout for booster jabs has already reached 22 million people.