CORONAVIRUS vaccines do work to stop the spread of Omicron, experts have found.
So far in the UK no Brits have been hospitalised with the variant – which has seen a 54 per cent rise in just 24 hours.
Brits have been urged by medical experts as well as ministers to come forward and get their Covid vaccines as well as their booster doses.
Trending In The News wants readers to join its ‘Give Britain a Booster‘ campaign, after thousands signed up through our ‘Jabs Army’ to get jabs in arms and assist the NHS with the rollout.
It’s vital to get your life-saving jabs and be fully protected – after the latest research from Pfizer found three doses “neutralises” the mutant variant.
New analysis released today showed vaccine effectiveness against Omicron compared to Delta.
This looked at 581 cases of people who had confirmed Omicron and showed that AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines provided much lower levels of protection against symptomatic infection compared to the protection that they provide against Delta.
But despite this, experts found that effectiveness against Omicron increases after a booster dose, giving around 70 to 75 per cent protection against symptomatic infection.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UKHSA, said: “These early estimates should be treated with caution but they indicate that a few months after the second jab, there is a greater risk of catching the Omicron variant compared to Delta strain.
“The data suggest this risk is significantly reduced following a booster vaccine, so I urge everyone to take up their booster when eligible. We expect the vaccines to show higher protection against the serious complications of Covid-19, so if you haven’t yet had your first two doses please book an appointment straight away.
“Working from home where possible, consistently wearing masks in crowded or enclosed spaces, washing your hands regularly and isolating and getting tested if you feel unwell are also vitally important in reducing the impact of Covid-19 this winter.”
It was today revealed that there are now a total of 1,265 confirmed cases of the variant, up by 448 since yesterday, but the UKHSA say there are likely thousands more.
Today a further 58,194 Covid cases were announced across the UK – the highest since July 15 – and 120 additional deaths.
Most cases are Delta, but Omicron is projected to become the dominant variant in the UK by mid-December, based on current trends, UKHSA said.
As Omicron cases continue to rise, an emergency Cobra meeting was being held in Downing Street.
Today Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tightened rules to stem the spread of the mutation ripping across Britain – blowing a hole in hopes of a normal Christmas.
In a grim warning she said: “To be blunt, because of the much greater and faster transmissibility of this new variant, we may be facing – indeed we may be starting to experience – a potential tsunami of infections.”
She added “it is highly probable that Omicron will outcompete Delta and become the dominant variant within Scotland very quickly, with the potential to cause high case numbers”.
As of Thursday in Scotland, 13.3 per cent of all PCR tests showed signs of the new variant.
