Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, said Monday that at least one person in the U.K. has died with the omicron coronaviruses variant, and urged people to get a booster shot to stop its spread.
Boris Johnson said that the first person to die with omicron was in the U.K.
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At least one patient has been confirmed to have died with the variant and Johnson said it was producing hospitalizations.
The best thing everyone can do is to get our boosters and make sure we don't think this is a milder version of the virus.
The prime minister refused to rule out tougher restrictions to contain the variant of coronaviruses, which now makes up 40% of cases in London, and long lines formed at vaccination centers Monday, the first day people aged 30 to 39 could get the jab in England.
At least 10 people were in hospital in England with the variant and a total of 3,137 cases have been reported across the U.K.
Many health authorities and experts around the world are keeping a close eye on the U.K., which has an advanced medical surveillance system, older population and high vaccine coverage. There is not a lot of data and information on how the variant might impact deaths and hospitalization, so experts have not yet drawn conclusions. The World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control have not reported any deaths from omicron. The U.K., Norway and South Africa have all reported that previous coronaviruses may cause milder symptoms than previous ones.
What to watch for.
It is possible that new vaccines will be needed. Major manufacturers and experts disagree on whether existing shots are still effective or whether booster shots of current formulations should suffice.
England's online vaccine booking system crashed Monday due to extremely high demand. People have been told to try again later after booking for booster shots expanded to include all adults on Wednesday. Home testing kits are not available on the government website after demand surged following new guidance instructing contacts of people with Covid-19 to take a rapid test every day for seven days from Tuesday.
The CDC knows a lot about the first U.S. Omicron cases.
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