Omicron: Emergency booster program in the UK to combat the virus

As of Sunday,Omicron infected a whopping number of 3,137 individuals.

The PM, Health Secretary and the NHS have provided new guidelines to fight the ‘tidal wave,’ by administering a broader booster program.

Omicron Emergency Boost

PM Boris Johnson on Sunday evening announced that, all individuals over the age of 18 are eligible for booster jabs by the new year. The NHS bookings for the young will reportedly open on Wednesday.

To combat the new wave, Johnson said that two vaccine doses were not ‘enough to give the level of protection we all need.’ Thus, the government is taking extra measures and launching the ‘Omicron Emergency Boost’ program.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said:

What we now know about Omicron, first of all, is that it is spreading at a phenomenal rate, something that we’ve never seen before. It’s doubling every two to three days in infections. And that means we’re facing a tidal wave.

A few methods being used to speed up the Omicron Emergency Boost program include the deployment of 42 military planning teams throughout every zone; extra immunization locations and mobile units; and increasing clinic hours to keep facilities open seven days a week.

Johnson further added regarding faster vaccine appointments:

More appointments early in the morning, in the evening and at weekends, and training thousands more volunteer vaccinators.

Vaccine v/s virus

The NHS and the government collectively feel that administering more and morebooster shots might be the ideal way to curb the raid of the freak virus.

Javid expressed:

We are once again in a race between the vaccine and the virus. The second thing that we now know for sure is that the vaccine's two doses are not enough, but three doses still provide excellent protection against symptomatic infection.

The ardent plea comes as millions of Britons get prepared to have their booster shots to improve their immunity against the new deadly variant.