A fourth jab could now be rolled out early to millions of Britons after a new study showed protection against Omicron wanes within three months of a booster.
People infected with the contagious variant are 70 per cent less likely to end up in hospital, an official analysis of real-world cases has confirmed.
But the analysis from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also reveals that immunity from boosters fades more quickly against Omicron compared to Delta.
Those who received two AstraZeneca doses, plus a Pfizer or Moderna booster, have 60 per cent protection against Omicron for two to weeks after the third jab.
But after ten weeks, it drops to 35 per cent for Pfizer and 45 per cent for Moderna.
The figures are further prompting officials to consider speeding up the rollout of the fourth jab to ward off a future surge in cases among those who have already received boosters.
The Government report from the UKHSA revealed yesterday that Omicron is up to 70 per cent less likely to cause hospital admission than Delta – though SAGE warned it may need to be 90 per cent milder to avoid the NHS coming under unsustainable pressure.
It also found that the new strain is 31 to 45 per cent less likely to result in A&E attendance.
The UK Health Security Agency says its early findings are ‘encouraging’ but the variant could still lead to large numbers of people in hospital.
The analysis is based on all cases of Omicron and Delta in the UK since the start of November, including 132 people admitted to hospital with the variant. There have also been 14 deaths in people within 28 days of catching Omicron.
It comes as NHS England announced third jabs will be given out on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, with around 200,000 appointments for a third dose still available across the country over the festive period, in a bid to slow down the infection rate.
It comes as daily Covid cases spiked again on Thursday, with hospitalisations rising by a fifth in a week, amid scientists’ warnings that the UK is still in the ‘danger zone’.
Cases hit a high for the second day running, with 119,789 reported in 24 hours — up 35 per cent on last Thursday and putting a dampener on hopes that the variant could be less devastating than initially feared.
Latest hospitalisations ticked up to 1,004, marking the first time they had reached four figures since early November.
Another 147 Covid deaths were recorded which was barely a change from last week, but these are lagging indicators because of the time taken for someone who catches the virus to fall severely ill. There were 16,817 further cases of Omicron confirmed, bringing the total to 90,906.
