Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsSkip to navigation

Boosters increase protection against death from Omicron in over-50s to 95% – UKHSA; UK records 338 deaths – as it happened

This article is more than 2 years old
Pedestrians walk past a UK government advertisement promoting the NHS Covid-19 vaccine booster scheme.
Pedestrians walk past a UK government advertisement promoting the NHS Covid-19 vaccine booster scheme. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
Pedestrians walk past a UK government advertisement promoting the NHS Covid-19 vaccine booster scheme. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

Live feed

From

Boosters increase protection against death from Omicron in over-50s to 95% – UKHSA

Covid boosters increase protection against death from the Omicron variant to 95% in people aged 50 or over, the UK Health Security Agency said on Thursday.

The UKHSA said that about six months after a second dose of any of the Covid vaccines, protection against death with Omicron was about 60% in those aged 50 and over. However, this increased to around 95% two weeks after receiving a booster vaccine dose.

UKHSA added that data continued to show high levels of protection against hospitalisation from the booster. Effectiveness against hospitalisation was 90% for the Pfizer/BioNTech shot , dropping to 75% 10-14 weeks after the booster.

For Moderna, effectiveness against hospitalisation was 90-95% up to 9 weeks after the booster.

“The evidence is clear – the vaccine helps to protect us all against the effects of Covid-19 and the booster is offering high levels of protection from hospitalisation and death in the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at UKHSA.

The UKHSA also issued an initial analysis of vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron sub-lineage called BA.2, which is growing in the UK and Denmark, finding a similar level of protection against symptomatic disease.

“After two doses effectiveness was 9% and 13% respectively for BA.1 and BA.2, after 25+ weeks,” the UKHSA said. “This increased to 63% for BA.1 and 70% for BA.2 from two weeks following a booster vaccine.”

Share
Updated at 
Key events

Thanks for joining us. That’s all from me, Samantha Lock, for today.

We will be launching another live Covid blog a little later today but in the meantime you can catch up with all the latest developments here.

Thanks for following along and, as always, I appreciate your tips and reader insights. You can email me at samantha.lock@theguardian.com or via Twitter @Samantha__Lock

Summary

Here’s a quick recap of all the international Covid developments:

Europe:

  • England is going back to its “Plan A” Covid strategy by lifting virus restrictions, with commuters back to the office, masks no longer required in enclosed places and vaccine passports shelved.
  • The EU’s drug regulator gave the green light to Pfizer Inc’s antiviral Covid-19 pill for treating adults at risk of severe illness.
  • Booster shots could reduce future hospitalisations in Europe by at least half a million, the EU’s public health agency said.
  • Finland will begin gradually easing restrictions from 1 February instead of mid-February as initially planned.
  • The head of the Paris hospitals system has set off a fierce debate by questioning whether people who refuse to be vaccinated should continue to have their treatment covered by public health insurance.
  • Spain’s north-eastern Catalonia region drops the need for a Covid passport to enter restaurants, bars and gyms.
  • Sweden’s health authority says it will not recommend Covid-19 jabs for all five to 11 year olds, the country again choosing a different Covid policy to much of Europe.
  • Many more Covid restrictions are being lifted on Friday in Wales, allowing nightclubs to reopen and some rules on social distancing to be scrapped.

Asia:

  • Hong Kong will shorten its 21-day quarantine requirement to 14 days for incoming travellers starting from 5 February.
  • New Delhi ends a weekend curfew, reopens restaurants and allows markets to operate at full capacity, as the Omicron variant outbreak slows.

Americas:

  • Canadian truck drivers are meeting in Ottawa to protest a federal government vaccine mandate.
  • Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau says he has been exposed to Covid-19 and will isolate for five days, in accordance with health rules for vaccinated people.
  • The US government’s main health agency is failing to meet its responsibilities for leading the national response to public health emergencies, including the coronavirus pandemic, a federal watchdog said Thursday.

Middle East:

  • A United Arab Emirates medical convoy of one million Covid-19 vaccines reached the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing, state news agency WAM said.
  • Morocco will reopen its airspace for international flights starting Feb. 7, the state news agency (MAP) reported on Thursday.
  • Covid-19 boosters increase protection against death from the Omicron variant to 95% in people aged 50 or over, the UK Health Security Agency said.
  • China’s Walvax Biotechnology has recruited most of the 28,000 participants needed for a large clinical trial of its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine candidate, a senior company official said.
Andrew Gregory

British prime minister Boris Johnson has been accused of taking a reckless approach to public health by lifting all plan B Covid restrictions in England while failing to take enough action to get jabs to 3 billion unvaccinated people in poorer countries.

The PM has robustly defended his record on the pandemic this week while awaiting the findings of the Sue Gray report on the “partygate” scandal, insisting he “got the big calls right” on the biggest global health crisis in a century.

But now more than 300 leading scientists, health experts and academics have said his failure to take sufficient action to boost vaccination levels worldwide means it is more likely new variants will put thousands of lives at risk across the UK.

“We write to you as scientists, academics, and public health experts concerned about the emergence of the Omicron variant and the threat that future variants may pose to public health, the NHS, and the UK’s vaccination programme,” they said in a two-page letter delivered to 10 Downing Street.

Read the full story here.

US federal health agency failing on crises, says watchdog

The US government’s main health agency is failing to meet its responsibilities for leading the national response to public health emergencies – including the coronavirus pandemic – extreme weather disasters and even potential bioterrorist attacks, a federal watchdog said Thursday.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said it is designating the Health and Human Services Department’s (HHS) leadership and coordination of public health emergencies as a “high risk” area for the government.

While that designation carries no immediate penalties, it signals to Congress that lawmakers need to pay special attention to the agency’s operations.

Long-standing “persistent deficiencies” at HHS “have hindered the nation’s response to the current Covid-19 pandemic and a variety of past threats,” the GAO said in its report. “If left unaddressed, these deficiencies will continue to hamper the nation’s ability to be prepared for, and effectively respond to, future threats.”

Read the full story here.

Hello it’s Samantha Lock with you on the blog for today as my colleague Tom Ambrose calls it a night in London.

The week has culminated in quite a few changes across Europe as England reverts back to Plan A and other countries throughout the region loosen Covid restrictions.

On the other side of the world it’s a different story as China continues to pursue a zero Covid strategy and local lockdowns could be on the horizon in Beijing.

Over in Australia, at least 74 Covid deaths have been recorded across NSW and Victoria.

Pfizer booster shots have also been approved for teenagers aged 16-17 as states urge more people to come forward and get their booster shots amid the Omicron Covid variant outbreak.

Brazil reported 228,954 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 672 Covid deaths, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The South American country has now registered 24,764,838 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 625,085, according to ministry data.

Steven Morris
Steven Morris

Many more Covid restrictions are being lifted on Friday in Wales, allowing nightclubs to reopen and some rules on social distancing to be scrapped.

But people will still be obliged to wear masks in most indoor places and on public transport while Covid passes will be needed for larger indoor events and gatherings.

The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, said Wales was moving fully into alert level zero because the country had passed the peak of the Omicron wave. He said:

There are encouraging signs that cases of coronavirus may be starting to stabilise. But we all need to continue taking steps to stay safe – unfortunately the pandemic is not over yet.

We are moving to alert level zero and we will retain some important protections, such as face coverings in most indoor public places.

Morocco will reopen its airspace for international flights starting 7 February, the state news agency (MAP) reported on Thursday.

Morocco banned all inbound international passenger flights in November due to concerns over the Omicron Covid variant.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended that Pfizer’s coronavirus antiviral drug be authorised for use in the European Union, the first time the agency has recommended a pill for treating Covid.

In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said giving the green light to Pfizer’s Paxlovoid could help people infected with Covid avoid more serious disease and being hospitalised.

The EMA’s expert committee recommended the pill be given to adults who don’t require oxygen and who are at higher risk of severe disease.

The drug was cleared by regulators in the US and Britain in late December, although authorities noted that supplies would be extremely limited.

An antiviral pill from Merck also is expected to soon be authorised. But Pfizer’s drug is all but certain to be the preferred option because of its mild side effects and superior effectiveness as suggested by studies, including a nearly 90% reduction in hospitalisations and deaths among patients most likely to get severely ill.

Finland will begin gradually easing Covid restrictions from 1 February instead of mid-February as initially planned as the burden on its hospitals eases, the government said late on Thursday.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin had said Finland would begin scaling back restrictions from mid-February, but signs of stabilisation in the infection rate caused by the Omicron variant of the virus led the government to alter its plan.

“The burden on intensive care units has taken a turn in a better direction,” Finland’s minister for health and social affairs Hanna Sarkkinen told reporters.

The government decided to start the cautious easing by loosening restrictions on the hours restaurants can remain open to 9 p.m. from a mandatory 6pm closure currently in place, Sarkkinen said.

It also recommended local authorities allow reopening of cultural and sports venues such as gyms, swimming pools and theatres from the beginning of February.

A United Arab Emirates medical convoy of one million Covid vaccines reached the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday, state news agency WAM said on Thursday.

The report said the Sputnik shots were the biggest medical support convoy from the UAE to the Palestinian strip since the start of the pandemic.

Most viewed

Most viewed