Media assets are out in force today posing the question of whether unvaccinated should be forced to take one. Incredible Nazi style propaganda campaign going on.
Surprised about LBC radio though, they're normally pretty level headed and generally against government intrusions. I wonder if they've been paid to pass such judgement.
https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1466012605278044165?s=20
Curious as to why the WHO is countering all the government propaganda, hype and hysteria surrounding Omicron whereas at the beginning they were practically ordering governments to shut their countries down.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10262973/Most-Omicron-cases-mild-no-symptoms-existing-jabs-provide-protection.html
Most Omicron cases are 'mild' and there is no evidence the new variant has any impact on vaccine effectiveness against serious illness, a World Health Organization official has claimed.
A spokesperson for the global health agency said early data suggests the mutant strain is better at infecting people than Delta, even the fully vaccinated.
But there is no signal that existing vaccines will be any less effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths.
It is the first official hint that the Omicron super-strain may not wreak as much havoc as initially feared.
Botswana today revealed that 85 per cent of its Omicron cases so far were asymptomatic and South African doctors say patients are presenting with milder symptoms.
Hospitalisations have surged in the South African epicentre of Gauteng in the last week, but only a quarter of its population is vaccinated.
It recorded 580 hospitalisations this week, in a jump of 330 per cent from 135 hospital admissions two week ago, according to the official data.
For comparison, 70 per cent of people in the UK are double-jabbed and the figure is as high as 80 per cent in some European nations.
Last night, Israeli officials claimed that a booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine provides up to 90 per cent protection against severe illness from Omicron.
But experts warn it will be at least two weeks until they have a better understanding of what impact the variant could have.
And SAGE, No10's scientific advisors, warned Britain should brace for a 'potentially very significant wave with associated hospitalisations' this winter if the worst estimates about Omicron turn out to be true.
No idea.. Just seems odd that the roles appear to have reversed.. For now at least.
Omicron Covid appeared in Nigeria in OCTOBER - weeks before South Africa announced discovery of variant, new tests reveal
Oops!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10262197/Omicron-Covid-Nigeria-says-case-new-variant-dates-October.html
Nigeria has confirmed its first cases of Omicron Covid and revealed it was in the country in October, weeks before South Africa alerted the world to its existence.
Three Omicron cases were detected in travellers who arrived in Nigeria from South Africa within the past week, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control said today.
But Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, the agency's director, added that retroactive testing of Covid samples collected in recent weeks had identified another case of Omicron dating back to October.
It means that Omicron - designated a 'variant of concern' by the WHO and believed to be the most-infectious form of Covid yet found - was likely circulating undetected for weeks before first being identified.
The discovery comes just a day after after Dutch health authorities said they also found a case of Omicron in a sample collected on November 19, four days before South Africa sounded the alarm.
If confirmed, the Nigerian case would be the earliest-known Omicron infection - rewriting the timeline of the variant's origins.
However, it does not necessarily mean the variant emerged in Nigeria because it is unclear how or why the sample was collected. Dr Adetifa did not give details.
Nigeria - in western Africa - extensively tests travellers into and out of the country, meaning it is possible the case was imported from overseas.
Until now, it had been assumed the variant first emerged in southern Africa where it was detected on November 23 by South African scientists in a sample collected from Botswana on November 9.
Nigeria's three recent cases were all in travellers from South Africa who had taken a Day 2 PCR test, with samples collected within the last week.
It is unclear when exactly the samples were collected. Nigeria said efforts are underway to track and isolate the individuals.
Analysts had suspected the virus was already circulating in Nigeria, after two Canadians returning from the country had tested positive for the variant last week.
The pair were Canada's first confirmed cases of the variant, though experts warned at the time that Omicron has probably already circulated widely.
'I think it's fair to say that this variant probably emerged weeks or even months ago,' infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch said last week.
'And by the time you start identifying it, it's usually pretty widespread, especially for a very contagious respiratory viral infection like this.'
In the Netherlands, scientists from the RIVM health institute said their first cases were found in samples dated November 19 and November 23, without disclosing how or why either sample was collected.
It is not yet clear whether these people had also visited southern Africa,' health officials said.