Health

Boris Johnson claims to have his New Year’s booster HIT


Boris Johnson has hailed the success of the UK’s booster program while claiming it has achieved its goal of delivering a supplemental dose to every UK adult.

The Prime Minister also urged people to implement a New Year’s resolution to help the country not to come to a standstill.

He spoke as the number of people hospitalized in the UK with Covid yesterday rose to 11,452 – up 61 per cent from a week earlier and the highest number since February 26.

There were 2,082 Covid hospital admissions in the UK on Tuesday, up 90% from the previous week and the highest daily total since February 3, NHS England figures show.

But about a third of patients are hospitalized with Covid primarily for a reason unrelated to the virus, with this proportion expected to increase.

And the NHS Confederation said while it was ‘encouraging’ to see people come forward to get their injections, it had heard reports that some vaccination clinics were only a third full as cases of the Omicron variant continued to rise. fast.

CEO Matthew Taylor said some primary care leaders have told the organization that people don’t show up to nearly 40% of their booked appointments.

The government aims by the end of November to offer a boost to all eligible people aged 18 and over by the end of January 2021.

But this goal was later realized after a month in response to the emerging threat of the new variant of Omicron sweeping across the country.

Mr Johnson said on December 12 that it was clear two doses of the vaccine were ‘simply not enough’ to provide the necessary level of protection and that without a growing population the NHS could be overwhelmed. He therefore set a new deadline to give every adult in the UK a booster shot by December 31.

More than 33.5 million booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with 1.8 million in the last seven days. Last week, the Government said it was averaging nearly one million boosters per day – also close to the PM’s target.

Boris Johnson last night urged people to implement a New Year’s resolution to help the country not to come to a standstill

The UK recorded an additional 189,213 cases of Covid infections yesterday – another record.

And there have been 332 deaths, the highest number since March 2, although this includes a number of hospital deaths backlog in the UK between December 24 and 29.

But in an upbeat New Year’s message, the Prime Minister insisted the situation was ‘better than last year’.

He said: ‘Regardless of the challenges that fate continues to throw our way and any anxiety we may have in the coming weeks and months, especially regarding Omicron and the number of days Increasingly in hospitals, we can say one thing for sure – our position Dec 31 is incomparably better than last year. ‘

Mr Johnson hailed the success of the UK’s boost programme, but he used his speech to offer a stark warning to those who haven’t had all their responses yet.

Nurse Salak Ali (right) administers a booster shot of the patent 'Jingle Jab' Covid vaccine at Good Health Pharmacy in North London on Christmas Day this year

Nurse Salak Ali (right) administers a booster shot of the patent ‘Jingle Jab’ Covid vaccine at Good Health Pharmacy in North London on Christmas Day this year

In a video message to be posted online this morning, Mr Johnson said: ‘I want to speak directly to all those who are not fully immunized.

‘People who think the disease can’t hurt them. Look at the people who are hospitalized now – it could be you.

‘Look at the intensive care units and the misery and deprivation of people who don’t get energy injections – it could be you.

‘So make it your New Year’s resolution. Take that and do something that will make 2022 a happy new year for all of us. ‘

Mr Johnson also said he has delivered on his pledge to give every adult in the UK the chance to book booster tickets by the end of the year – more than eight million have been put in place since the target was announced on Sunday. December 12, bringing the UK total to 28.1 million.

But it is estimated that there are still around nine million people entitled to boosters who have not yet done so.

And Professor Martin Marshall, president of the Royal College of GPs, yesterday warned the rollout would be almost halted by Christmas.

He told Times Radio: “The vaccination program is going well, but it’s going pretty slowly over the Christmas period, especially in GP centres. ‘I doubt that will rise again in January but it’s a bit frustrating for the staff.’

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer used his own New Year’s message to promise to lay out a plan to ‘build a new Britain’.

The Labor leader, who will start 2022 with his party ahead in recent opinion polls, said: ‘I believe the best is still ahead for Britain. That, if we make the right choices, we can together embrace the future and make it a success for every family in every part of England.

‘That must be the true legacy of all the sacrifices and pain of the past two years of the pandemic.’

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey used his message to say he hopes 2022 will be ‘the year we finally beat Covid’.



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