Boris Johnson said at least one person in the UK had died from the Omicron variant of Covid-19, as he refused to rule out stricter restrictions before Christmas.
The British Prime Minister said during his visit to the vaccination clinic near Paddington in west London: «Unfortunately, yes, Omicron is hospitalization and unfortunately at least one patient has been confirmed to have died from Omicron.
«So I think the idea that this is a milder version of the virus, I think this is something we need to put to one side and just get a sense of the absolute pace that it’s accelerating in the population. So the best thing we can do is get our boosters.»
Hundreds of people queued for Covid vaccines in British cities on Monday and home test kits ran out after Johnson warned that the «tidal wave» of the Omicron variant could overwhelm those vaccinated with two doses.
Since the first cases of Omicron were discovered on November 27 in the UK, Johnson has imposed stricter restrictions, and on Sunday urged people to get booster doses to prevent health services being overwhelmed.
Health Minister Sajid Javid said the coronavirus Omicron variant is spreading at a «tremendous rate» and now accounts for about 40 per cent of infections in London.
At the vaccination center at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, a queue of hundreds of people crept back to Westminster Bridge. Reuters reporters have also documented queues in queues across London and Manchester, northern England.
«The Covid Vaccine Reservation Service is currently experiencing very high demand, so it is operating on a waiting system,» the National Health Service said on Twitter. «For all others with waiting periods, we recommend trying again later today or tomorrow.»
Home test kits were also not available.
Johnson said the first patient in the UK died after contracting the Omicron variant.
Mr Johnson, grappling with a rebellion in his party over measures to curb Omicron and protesting parties in his Downing Street office during last year’s lockdowns, said people should rush to get booster vaccines to protect «our freedoms and our way of life».
After Covid-19 was first detected in China in late 2019, it faced criticism for initially resisting lockdown.
It has also been criticized for overseeing errors in transporting patients to care homes, and for building an expensive testing and tracing system that failed to stop a deadly second wave.
Johnson has repeatedly said that while mistakes were made, the government was making quick decisions in the biggest public health crisis in generations and that his government was quick to roll out vaccines.
More than 146,000 people have died from Covid in the UK.
‘tidal wave’
As Johnson tries to stem the spread of Omicron, he faces growing anger from liberals in his party over stricter Covid rules and lower voting rates.
He has faced criticism over his handling of a corruption scandal, awarding of lucrative Covid contracts, renovating his Downing Street apartment and claiming that he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic western withdrawal in August.
A poll by Ipsos MORI for The London Evening Standard showed opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer’s standings 13 percentage points ahead of Johnson, the first time a Labor leader has been seen as a more capable prime minister since 2008.
It also echoed other polls by showing Labor up three points on 39 per cent ahead of Johnson’s Conservative Party, which has fallen one point since the last poll in November on 35 per cent.
Mr Javid said that while there were no confirmed deaths in England and only 10 people were hospitalized with the Omicron variant, its rapid spread meant that unless the government acted, the health service could be overwhelmed.
“Two doses are not enough, but three doses still provide excellent protection against symptomatic infection,” said Mr. Javid.
The government wants to give all adults a booster boost by the new year, an ambitious goal given the Christmas holidays, and to vaccinate one million people a day is double the current 530,000 a day. Reuters/Penn