WHO officials also said booster vaccines should not be a priority - saying all the evidence shows existing vaccines provide good protection against severe illness, hospitalisations, and death. The head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told governments waiting to act until hospitals started to fill up would be too late. Since then nearly 120 million first, second and booster doses have been given in the UK, and more than eight billion across the world.Īt its weekly Covid 19 briefing, today the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was some initial evidence that the Omicron variant was more infectious, that vaccines could be somewhat less effective against it, but that its health effects might be less severe.īut officials stressed that more research is needed, and warned again that countries must act now to prepare for another pandemic wave.Ī priority must be vaccinating the unvaccinated, and reliable public health measures such as mask wearing, testing, and social distancing. Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin says sorry for going clubbing after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 caseĪnd it is a year to the day since the first person received a Covid vaccination outside a clinical trial.Holiday firm Tui says the pace of holiday bookings is slowing down after the emergence of the new variantĬovid-19 vaccinations will be offered to children aged five to 11 in the Republic of Ireland.Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, calls the Covid crisis the biggest challenge facing his country.Pfizer and BioNTech say a booster jab of their coronavirus vaccine promises to be an effective defence against Omicron.Hospital admissions from the Omicron variant may reach at least 1,000 a day in England by the end of the year without extra restrictions, advisers said.Boris Johnson apologised for the video showing Allegra Stratton and other Downing Street staff, amid mounting public fury and criticism from opposition MPs.Allegra Stratton, a senior government adviser who was recorded joking with colleagues about a lockdown party held in Downing Street last Christmas, resigned.Restrictions in England are being strengthened, Boris Johnson announced - it's hoped the government's Plan B will help slow the spread of the Omicron variant
It's been an eventful and fast-moving day of developments in the coronavirus pandemic.