Covid: ‘Blizzard from east’ could disrupt Christmas, warns Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has warned of a “blizzard from the east” that could derail his hopes for a Christmas free of disruption from coronavirus restrictions.

The prime minister said there was nothing in the data now to suggest the UK should move to the government’s Plan B, involving compulsory face masks, advice to work from home and Covid vaccine passports for crowded venues.

But he warned that some areas of Europe were now seeing a “storm of infection” that could spread across the Channel to Britain.

As experts gave the go-ahead for booster jabs for over-40s and second vaccine shots for 16- and 17-year-olds, Mr Johnson urged everybody to take up the offer of inoculation as soon as possible to ward off the danger of new restrictions.

The decisions of the 25 per cent of over-70s who have still not had their booster jab will “make all the difference” to the kind of festive season Britain enjoys this year, after its effective cancellation last year, he said.

Asked whether he could guarantee a normal Christmas season, Mr Johnson said: “We don’t see anything in the data at the moment to suggest that we need to go to plan B. We’re sticking with with Plan A.

“But what we certainly have got to recognise is that there is a storm of infection out there in parts of Europe. You can see those numbers ticking up very sharply in some of our continental friends.

“And we’ve just got to recognise that there is always a risk that a blizzard could come from the east again as the months get colder. The best protection for our country is for everybody to come forward and get their booster.”

Mr Johnson said it was “very good news” that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation had authorised an extension of the booster scheme.

Some 12.6 million people have received a booster jab in the UK so far. Those aged over 40 will be invited to receive a third dose of either Pfizer or Moderna in the coming weeks, the government said, but only if six months have passed since their second jab was administered.

While experts say vaccine effectiveness against death or serious illness, including hospital admission, remains high for several months after completing the primary course, researchers have seen greater waning in older adults and those with underlying medical conditions compared with young, healthy adults.

However, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said the “waning signal” after two vaccine doses is also starting to show in those aged 40 to 49, adding that this is why the JCVI has “acted decisively” in extending the booster jab rollout.

Research from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has shown that two weeks after receiving a booster dose, protection against symptomatic infection was 93.1 per cent among those who had initially received Oxford-AstraZeneca, and 94.0 per cent for Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

In the light of these findings, the prime minister said: “So the message is ‘Anybody over 70, come forward and get your booster. Anybody over 50, come forward to get your booster. Now, in the next week or so, anybody over 40 as well, come forward and get your booster.”

People aged under 40 might also be advised to get a booster in the future, said Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of Covid-19 immunisation for the JCVI.

He told a Downing Street briefing: “We are looking very closely at the data all the time and should there be sufficient signal to warrant a third dose, so a booster dose for this age group, then certainly we will announce that and advise that accordingly.”

Mr Johnson has meanwhile suggested that Britons may soon need a booster jab to be considered “fully vaccinated” when going abroad or for self-isolation rules. He said there were plans to add the third dose to the NHS Covid travel pass.

“What the general lesson is from anybody who wants to travel, you can see that getting fully vaccinated with a booster is going to be something that will, on the whole, make your life easier in all kinds of ways, including on foreign travel,” he added.

In line with data from Israel, it’s expected the UK’s booster programme will help to prevent Covid-19 deaths throughout Christmas and beyond.

Among the over-60s who have received a booster jab, there has been “a tenfold reduction against all Covid infections, an 18.7-fold reduction against hospitalisations, and a 14.7-fold reduction against mortality, and that’s on top of the initial course of Pfizer,” said Prof Van-Tam.

“So I believe therefore that if the booster programme is successful, and with very high uptake, we can massively reduce the worry about hospitalisation and death due to Covid at Christmas, and for the rest of this winter.”

However, Prof Van-Tam said that “everyone has a key role to play” in minimising disruption from Covid in the coming months.

“Wear face coverings in crowded places if it is practical to do so, increase indoor ventilation whenever you can, make sure you are vaccinated and, like any medicine, make sure you finish the course,” he said.