“If you look at Ómicron, we know that it is spreading very quickly. We currently have 104 hospitalizations. [de pessoas] with Omicron we had 12 deaths. But there is a time lag in terms of data, so we really don’t know the severity, ”Raab told Times Radio.
“The only thing we know is that whoever gets the booster vaccine has over 70% effective protection,” he added, justifying the government’s accelerated revaccination campaign.
Nearly half of people over the age of 12 received their third dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, where cases have skyrocketed (82,886 reported Sunday) due to the Omicron variant.
The country is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic in Europe, with over 147,000 deaths.
Faced with this situation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced new containment measures, including the use of masks in closed public places, with the exception of bars and restaurants, and the introduction of medical passes for clubs, concerts and major events.
But a significant number of Conservative MPs oppose these new measures because they restrict individual freedoms. Secretary of State for European Relations David Frost stepped down on Saturday.
British scientists are arguing for more action to slow the rise in cases that could overwhelm health services and are already affecting the lack of isolated police, firefighters and medical workers.
But some ministers want to wait for more information before introducing new restrictions, which are opposed by about a third of them, including Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, according to The Times.
Despite the current situation, Dominik Raab believed that in the country “Christmas will be much better than last year, thanks to the vaccination rate, both the overall vaccination rate and especially the impact of the campaign.” [vacinas de] reinforcement “.
However, on Sunday, Health Minister Sajid Javid did not rule out the introduction of new rules before Christmas, explaining that “nothing is guaranteed in this pandemic.”
