'A Tidal Wave of Omicron Coming'

In an address to the nation on Dec. 12, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear that the threat posed by the new variant first identified in Botswana and South Africa was deadly serious.

"Earlier today the UK's four chief medical officers raised the Covid alert level to four  - it's second highest level- because of the evidence that Omicron is doubling here in the UK every two to three days.

"We know from bitter experience how these exponential curves develop. No one should be in any doubt there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming...

"And I know there will be some people watching who will be asking whether Omicron is less severe than previous variants...

"We've already seen hospitalisations doubling in a week in South Africa and we have patients with Omicron in hospital here in the UK right now...

"At this point our scientists cannot say that Omicron is less severe and even if that proved to be true we already know it is so much more transmissible that a wave of Omicron through a population that was not boosted would risk a level of hospitalisation that could overwhelm our NHS and lead sadly to very many deaths. So we must act now."

All in on boosters

"Launching what he described as the 'Omicron Emergency Boost', Mr Johnson said everyone over the age of 18 would now be offered their booster before the New Year," reported the Daily Mail, the United Kingdom's highest-circulated daily newspaper, on Dec. 12. The time length after one's second shot will be only three months unlike in the U.S. where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifies six months.

The army and extra NHS staff will be deployed across regions in the UK to help achieve Boris Johnson's target to vaccinate more than a million people every day with booster jabs this Christmas and prevent a New Year lockdown. 

Britons are responding. An updated version of the source article states that "in the first sign of chaos, the NHS's online booking site crashed this morning as thousands of desperate Britons crammed onto the site to try to arrange their top-up jab."

Not by boosters alone

While promoting a 'third jab' was the main focus in Johnson's address to the nation to combat the new variant, it was by no means the only measure he advanced. An indoor mask mandate and a vaccine verification program, part of 'Plan B',  will play prominent roles, but the latter encountered opposition from Johnson's own party.

The booster announcement came as Mr Johnson braces for a Tory [Conservative] rebellion in the House of Commons on Tuesday when MPs are due to vote on his 'Plan B' measures. 

Labour has said it will vote for the new curbs which include rolling out vaccine passports [NHS Covid Pass] for nightclubs and large indoor events, making face masks compulsory in most indoor public settings and advising people to work from home. 

Rebuffed by his own party

As is typical in Europe but absent in the U.S., the head of state needs to get the approval of the legislative body to implement nation-wide public health measures.

"Almost 100 Conservative lawmakers voted on Tuesday against new coronavirus restrictions, dealing a major blow to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's authority and raising questions about his leadership," reported Reuters on Dec. 14.

After a day of frenzied failed lobbying, Johnson was handed the biggest rebellion against his government so far by his party over measures he said were necessary to curb the spread of the new Omicron variant.

The new rules, which included ordering people to wear masks in public places and use COVID-19 passes for some venues, passed thanks largely to the main opposition Labour Party.

COVID death and hospitalizations

A day earlier, Johnson had announced the world's first fatality that can be attributed to the Omicron variant, although The Washingtpon Post notes "that in itself is of limited significance. There may have been others in which the virus wasn’t genetically sequenced to determine the variant involved."

The U.K. Health Security Agency said Monday that there were 10 patients in hospitals across England, ages 18 to 85, diagnosed with the omicron variant on or before admission, with the majority having received two doses of coronavirus vaccine.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday that hospitalizations and deaths are forecast to “dramatically increase” in the coming weeks.

Speaking to lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, he said omicron would become the dominant variant in London in the next 48 hours. It already represented 20 percent of all new cases in England, with cases doubling every two to three days.

Headed across the pond?

Omicron is already in the U.S., accounting for about 3% of U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reporting on a new study from South Africa released on Dec. 14 that found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be only 33% effective against infection from Omicron, "a senior Biden administration official told Axios, 'Everything points to a large wave. A large wave is coming.'"

Related in Planetizen:

• Omicron Variant: No Good Science Goes Unpunished, Nov. 30, 2021
• COVID Vaccination Strategy: What the U.K. and U.S. Could Learn from Israel, October 26, 2021 
• England Begins Second Lockdown to Protect the National Health Service, November 8, 2020 
• Britain Shuts Down and India Locks Down to Contain COVID-19, March 26, 2020