Britons rush to get shots in booster blitz against Omicron

London: Long lines formed Monday at vaccination centers across England as people heeded the government’s call for all adults to get booster shots to protect themselves against omicron variant, as UK recorded its first death of a patient infected with omicron.

In a televised announcement late Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said everyone 18 and up would be offered a third vaccine dose by Dec. 31—less than three weeks away, and a month earlier than previous target.

Johnson said said boosters would “reinforce our wall of vaccine protection” against an anticipated “tidal wave of omicron.” The British government raised country’s official coronavirus threat level on Sunday, warning that rapid spread of omicron “adds additional and rapidly



increasing risk to public and health care services.”

UK health authorities say omicron cases are doubling every two to three days in Britain, and it will replace delta as dominant coronavirus strain within days.

But it’s unclear whether expected wave of infections will inundate country’s state-funded health care system. Scientists in South Africa, where omicron was first identified, say they see signs variant may cause less severe disease than delta but caution that it’s too soon to be certain.

Health authorities around  world are watching Britain closely to see what an omicron surge looks like in a country with an older, more highly vaccinated population than South Africa’s.