At least one person in the UK has died with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, Boris Johnson has said, as he refused to rule out tighter restrictions ahead of Christmas.
Speaking during a visit to a vaccination clinic near Paddington in west London, the British prime minister said: “Sadly, yes, Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron.
“So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that’s something we need to set on one side and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population. So the best thing we can do is all get our boosters.”
Hundreds of people queued up for Covid vaccines in British cities on Monday and home testing kits ran out after Mr Johnson warned a "tidal wave" of the Omicron variant could overcome those inoculated with two shots.
Since the first Omicron cases were detected on November 27th in the United Kingdom, Mr Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and on Sunday he urged people to get booster shots to prevent the health service from being overwhelmed.
Health secretary Sajid Javid said the Omicron coronavirus variant was spreading at a "phenomenal rate" and now accounted for about 40 per cent of infections in London.
At St Thomas' Hospital Vaccination Centre in central London, a queue of hundreds of people snaked back onto Westminster Bridge. Reuters journalists also documented queues across London and in Manchester, northern England.
“The Covid vaccine booking service is currently facing extremely high demand so is operating a queuing system,” the National Health Service said on Twitter. “For all others experiencing waits, we would advise trying again later today or tomorrow.”
Home testing kits were also unavailable.
Mr Johnson said the first patient in the United Kingdom had died after contracting the Omicron variant.
Mr Johnson, who is grappling with a rebellion in his party over measures to curb Omicron and an outcry over parties at 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, he faced criticism for initially resisting lockdown.
He has also been criticised for overseeing mistakes in transferring patients into care homes, and for building a costly test-and-trace system that failed to stop a deadly second wave.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly said that while mistakes were made, the government was making decisions swiftly in the biggest public health crisis for generations and that his government was quick to roll out vaccines.
More than 146,000 people have died from Covid in the United Kingdom.
‘Tidal wave’
As Mr Johnson tries to stem the spread of Omicron, he faces growing anger from libertarians in his party over stiffer Covid rules and sinking poll ratings.
He has faced criticism over his handling of a sleaze scandal, the awarding of lucrative Covid contracts, the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat and a claim he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic Western withdrawal in August.
An Ipsos MORI survey for The London Evening Standard newspaper showed opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer's ranking was 13 percentage points ahead of Johnson, the first time a Labour leader had been viewed as a more capable prime minister since 2008.
It also echoed other polls by showing Labour up three points on 39 per cent ahead of Johnson’s Conservatives, who were down one point since the last survey in November on 35 per cent.
Mr Javid said although there had been no deaths confirmed in England and just 10 people hospitalised with the Omicron variant, its swift 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,” Mr Javid said.
The government wants to offer all adults a booster by New Year, an ambitious target given the Christmas holiday and that vaccinating 1 million people per day is around double the current 530,000 per day. – Reuters/PA