London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UK booster jab rollout to increase to 1m a day to battle Omicron ‘tidal wave’

Army to be deployed as part of effort to offer Covid vaccine dose to every adult by end of month
Boris Johnson is gambling on an unprecedented ramping up of vaccinations, rolling out 1m booster jabs a day to stem an incoming “tidal wave of Omicron” and avoid imposing further restrictions.

The army will be deployed across the country to help rapidly accelerate the vaccine programme and GPs will be told to cancel appointments to dedicate resources to offering vaccines to every UK adult by the end of December.

In a televised address to the nation on Sunday night, the prime minister said he was “afraid we are now facing an emergency in our battle with the new variant, Omicron, and we must urgently reinforce our wall of vaccine protection to keep our friends and loved ones safe.”

Johnson, who is facing a major test of his authority this week as MPs rebel against new Covid restrictions, called the target “a national mission unlike anything we have done before in the vaccination programme”.

It means vaccinating around 1 million people a day, up from 530,000 on Saturday. The UK record is 844,000 in March. All over-18s will be eligible from Monday, and NHS booking will open to that age group from Wednesday. Until now eligibility has been limited to over-40s.

Jabs will be available on Christmas Day, though demand is expected to be low.

On Sunday the Covid alert level was raised from 3 to 4, indicating substantial pressure on the NHS, after a further 1,239 UK cases of Omicron were confirmed, nearly double the number reported the previous day. Omicron is expected to become Britain’s dominant variant within days, and Johnson warned it could “overwhelm the NHS and lead to very many deaths”.

Announcing the booster offensive, Johnson said: “We know from bitter experience how these exponential curves develop. No one should be in any doubt: there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.” He said two doses of vaccine were not enough, but scientists were confident that three would make a huge difference.

On Friday UK data suggested that three jabs provide 70-75% protection against infection with Omicron, while two doses given three or more months ago give 30% to 40% or less.

GPs and other vaccinators will be required to prioritise jabs over non-urgent care and reduce the number of other face-to-face interactions. Johnson will also scrap the 15-minute post-jab wait in order to speed through even greater numbers of people.

Forty-two military planning teams will be deployed across every region of the UK, and there will be additional vaccine sites and mobile units. There will be extended opening hours with more appointments early in the morning, in the evening and at weekends, and thousands more volunteer vaccinators will be trained.

Hospitals expect NHS England to declare a national incident within days, the Guardian has learned, making decision-making more centralised and likely leading to routine operations being cancelled with staff redirected.

The prime minister said it could not be taken for granted that Omicron was causing less severe illness. “Do not make the mistake of thinking Omicron can’t hurt you, can’t make you and your loved ones seriously ill,” he said.

Johnson is facing open war in the Tory party over the move to plan B restrictions, with the biggest rebellion since his election expected from MPs opposed to Covid passports for large venues and more mask wearing.

Up to 100 MPs could oppose the changes on Tuesday as Johnson battles on multiple fronts to contain the damage from reports of a series of parties in Downing Street last year, which have left MPs openly discussing a vote of no confidence.

The acceleration of the booster rollout, which will put Johnson under pressure to meet the target, is likely to be a key argument to reassure furious Tory MPs who have warned the prime minister they will not tolerate further restrictions.

Johnson will offer a number of concessions to the rebels, starting with an announcement that from Tuesday contacts of Covid cases will be able to take a lateral flow test every day instead of isolating if they have been vaccinated.

The Guardian understands that the red list for travel is likely to be scrapped in the coming days, given the worldwide spread of Omicron. The change would mean there is likely to be no enforced hotel quarantine for people returning from southern Africa, though travellers may be required to isolate at home.

Scientists warned that while booster jabs were crucial, they should be combined with restrictions on the size of gatherings. Prof Christina Pagel, of University College London, said some current policies appeared contradictory, including letting vaccinated people take tests instead of isolating after contact with a Covid case.

“Don’t go to work but go to parties. Get a booster, but it’s fine not to isolate if you’re vaccinated. It’s not consistent,” she said. “This idea that kids can go to school if someone in their house has Covid is just stupid. We should be saying no parties, no gatherings bigger than 10 people, say. We need to think about moving back down the roadmap and restricting contact.”

She added: “I just don’t think they [ministers] can say ‘this is it’ until Christmas when things are so uncertain.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×