THERE are no “hard and fast guarantees” more restrictions won’t be imposed this Christmas, Dominic Raab warned today.
The Deputy PM hoped this year would be better than last year – but could not rule out fresh measures to tackle the tsunami of Omicron cases.
Laying bare the alarming Covid picture, he revealed there were now 104 Omicron hospitalisations and 12 deaths.
Mr Raab hammered the line that the best weapon in our inventory are vaccines, and urged everyone to get their boosters.
Volunteers are signing up in droves to help out the campaign effort including the heroic recruits of HOAR’s Jabs Army.
Mr Raab said: “We will have a much better Christmas than last year because of the vaccination level, both the overall vaccination level but particularly the impact of the booster campaign, and we saw on Saturday, just in one day, 900,000 people get their booster.
“I do think of course, you have heard it from the Health Secretary over the weekend, I’d echo that, people will need to be careful and cautious.
“I do think that again, subject to the data, and it’s always under review, we’re in a better position to enjoy Christmas with loved ones this year.”
When asked if he could guarantee there will not be more restrictions between now and Christmas Day, Mr Raab said: “Well, I just can’t make hard and fast guarantees.”
He said: “If you look at Omicron, what we actually know is that it spreads very rapidly.
“We have got 104 hospitalisations at the moment which are Omicron-based, we have had 12 deaths. But there’s a time lag in the data and so we don’t know quite how severe it will be.
“The one thing we do know is that those that get the booster jab get over 70% effective protection, which is why the strategy we have got, I believe at the moment subject to being reviewed constantly, is the right one which is encouraging people to get their boosters.
“I think 53% of adults have now had their booster and then proceeding with Plan B, which is encouraging people to work from home where they can and masks in particularly crowded places.”
He added: “I think that is the right strategy until we’ve got firmer, harder data.”
