UK prepares to extend Covid Booster to all adults

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The government’s scientific advisers are expected to recommend extending the booster program to all adults in the UK, as six more cases of the novel Omicron virus variant have been confirmed in Scotland.

The booster program will be expanded to all people over 18 and the six-month gap between the second and third doses will be “significantly reduced” to boost immunity as the Omicron variant begins to spread, following new guidance from government vaccine advisors.

Scientists believe the new Omicron variant, which was identified in South Africa last week and has already spread to several countries around the world, may be more transmissible than the highly contagious delta variant and has mutations that could make it resistant to vaccines.

Children aged 12 to 15 years will also be given a second dose of the Covid vaccine. The Joint Commission on Immunization and Immunization is expected to give advice on Monday after the group held an emergency meeting on Saturday.

“Mutations raise [the] high probability that [the Omicron variant] One JCVI member said: “[The] The only response available with regard to vaccines is to maximize them [antibody levels] in the blood of as many people as possible as soon as possible to try to make up for those theoretical concerns.”

Nine cases of the new variant were identified in the UK by Monday, with three cases confirmed in England over the weekend. People familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that dozens are being treated as suspected cases.

Ministers on Monday will introduce legislation to contain the spread of the new alternative, with some Conservative MPs skeptical of the shutdown calling for a vote on the proposals by the end of Tuesday.

Under the new rules, face masks will become mandatory in shops and other places such as hairdressers as well as on public transport in England from 4am on Tuesday.

Everyone entering the UK will be required to take a PCR test within two days of arrival and must self-isolate until they receive a negative result. Any contact with any suspected case of Omicron should also be isolated for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status.

Health Minister Eduard Argar on Monday backed away from suggestions that additional coronavirus restrictions be imposed before Christmas. “It’s not something I would expect,” he told Sky News.

He added that it is “still in its infancy in terms of understanding how it actually interacts in transmissibility and in terms of its severity.”

The Department of Education said that children in the seventh year and above must wear face coverings in public areas of English language schools.

Steve Baker, Conservative deputy chair of the Covid Recovery Group, told the Telegraph that the measures would “cause chaos including collateral damage such as damage to children’s education”.

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Dr Jenny Harris, chief executive of the UK’s Health Security Agency, said: “Our advanced sequencing capabilities enable us to find variants and take rapid action to limit the spread of disease.

“It is very likely that we will find more cases in the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and with increased case detection through focused contact tracing.”

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The government has yet to publish its Covid-19 plan B, which includes guidance on working from home and Covid passports for mass events. Health Minister Sajid Javid told Sky News over the weekend that the government was “nowhere close” to that plan.

The new measures are introduced as the alternative continues to spread in Europe and scientists race to assess the new level of risk.

Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s chief medical advisor, warned that the alternative might be able to evade vaccine protection, but insisted it was likely that vaccines would still help prevent severe illness and death.

Results from tests measuring Omicron’s response to vaccines and immune systems are expected to take up to three weeks. The United Kingdom held a meeting of G7 health ministers on Monday.

Additional reporting by Sarah Provan

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