At least one person infected with Omicron has died in the United Kingdom, which is working hard to ensure that all adults can receive a third dose of COVID vaccine by the end of December in the face of the “tidal wave” of this highly contagious variant.
The UK is said to be the first country to officially announce a death from Omicron.
Very hard hit by the pandemic with more than 146,000 deaths and around 50,000 daily contaminations, the country of 66 million inhabitants has also decreed other restrictions to avoid seeing its hospitals overwhelmed, such as the return to teleworking, in effective since Monday.
In terms of vaccines, a race against time is underway. Faced with “an Omicron tidal wave,” in the words of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the executive has advanced by one month the goal of offering a booster shot to all over 18 years of age. England, who will now be able to benefit from it before the New Year.
“Unfortunately, Omicron generates hospitalizations and it has been confirmed that at least one patient has died from Omicron,” the Tory leader said during a visit to a vaccination center in London.
“The idea that this is sort of a less virulent version of the virus, I think that’s something that we have to rule out and recognize that the rate at which (its spread) is accelerating within the population “, He added, encouraging the population to ask for a third dose.
The task promises to be titanic. Multiplication of vaccination centers, extended hours, deployment of the army: the recall campaign, which will consist in doubling the number of third doses offered to around one million per day, is on a scale “never seen” in the country, Health Minister Sajid Javid said on Sky News.
While two doses of the vaccine are considered insufficient to provide a good level of protection against the Omicron variant, about 40% of those over 12 have already received a third.
Very long lines had formed in front of some vaccination centers on Monday, as the public health service (NHS) booking site, overwhelmed by demand, was inaccessible at times or operated on a queue system .
“I took my morning to be vaccinated because I am going to see my grandparents,” Sarah Jackson, 29, in central London, told AFP. “I was told that there was a two hour line to register and then two hours to be vaccinated.”
“Majority of cases” in London
Many Britons were also faced with a failure to try to obtain free antigenic tests, while fully vaccinated people who become contact cases must now test themselves daily to avoid isolation: a measure that aims to avoid cripple the economy.
Omicron “is spreading at a phenomenal rate that has never been seen before”, with infections doubling every two to three days, Sajid Javid said.
The COVID alert level has been raised from three to four, the second highest level, which indicates “transmission is high” and pressure on health services “significant or increasing”.
Detected in the United Kingdom at the end of November, Omicron should very soon be the dominant variant, estimates the government. It already represents 40% of contaminations in London, and “by tomorrow, it will be the majority of cases” in the capital, warned the Prime Minister.
The total number of Omicron cases identified in the country was 3,137 on Sunday, but the actual number of cases is believed to be much higher.
Other measures have been decreed recently, such as teleworking and the wearing of masks in almost all closed places.
Despite this instruction, the traffic was dense in the business district of the City, in the heart of London, during rush hour Monday morning, and some buses were crowded, noted an AFP journalist.
A health passport will also be imposed from Wednesday in large gathering places, a measure that angered some of the deputies of the conservative majority.
Submitted to a vote by MPs on Tuesday, these new measures are expected to be adopted with the support of the opposition Labor party.
They come in a difficult context for Boris Johnson, weakened by a series of scandals linked to supposed parties in Downing Street last winter, when the British had to limit their social interactions.