Omicron Speeds UK's Booster Vaccination Plan

On Sunday, Dec. 12, Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched an emergency campaign to accelerate the booster vaccination process for those over 18 years of age, due to the increase in deaths and hospitalizations caused by the spread of the Omicron variant.

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"I fear we now face an emergency in our battle with the new Omicron variant, and we must urgently strengthen our wall of vaccine protection to keep our friends and loved ones safe," Johnson explained in a speech televised by local media.

A study has shown that vaccines given against this new strain of COVID-19 have a very low response rate for those vaccinated with two doses, while a third dose increases the immunity rate to 70 percent.

"I'm afraid it is now clear that two doses of the vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we all need," Johnson said, adding that variant infections are doubling every two to three days.

The announcement of the new contingency plan came just hours after British authorities had raised to Level four the alert status for the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. A level not seen since last May.

The heads of medical teams in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland assured that the first studies show that Omicron spreads much faster than the Delta variant.

"We will assist this emergency operation by deploying 42 military planning teams to all health regions, setting up additional vaccination centers and mobile units. By extending opening hours so that clinics are open seven days a week, with more early morning, evening and weekend appointments, and by training thousands more volunteer workers in the vaccination campaign," said Johnson about the UK Omicron Emergency Campaign.