This may include advertisements from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. The warning came after scientists from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group NERVTAG, which advises the government, held an emergency meeting to discuss the new Omicron variant, also known as B. The experts said that the variant could have very serious consequence for the UK. A note from the meeting from last Thursday, published online on Monday, said that if introduced into the UK, B. A key Department of Health official and England deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said that 529 would likely be capable of initiating a new wave of infections. Although the disease severity associated with B. A large wave of infections will be accompanied by a wave of severe cases and the subgroup cannot rule out that this may be enough to overwhelm NHS capacity. The scientists called for the Government to take early and robust actions to prevent introduction and onward transmission NERVTAG said this should include detecting Omicron cases early in Britain, as well as containment measures and speeding up the roll out of booster vaccines. They said there needs to be a reassessment of the optimal use of antivirals, and preparations for modifications to existing vaccines and antibody treatments.
However, experts warned that tehir advice can only be limited due to the uncertainty surrounding the properties of Omicron, but there have been sufficiently worrying signals that guided their advice so far. These signals have been largely based on reports from South Africa, where Omicron was first detected. NERVTAG held a phone meeting on the day after South African authorities reported first cases of the new variant. Following the reports from South Africa, Westminster added South Africa and five other countries to the travel red list, and added four more countries over the weekend. Boris Johnson, the prime minister, said on Saturday that Omicrons can be spread very quickly and can be spread between people who are double vaccinated. He warned that current vaccines might be less effective against the variant. The University of Oxford has said that while there is no proof that the Omicron variant can escape the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, it is ready to quickly develop an updated version of its current vaccine if need be. It said in a statement: Despite the appearance of new variants over the past year, vaccines have continued to provide very high levels of protection against severe disease and there is no evidence that Omicron is any different. If it is necessary, we have the tools and processes in place for rapid development of an updated COVID- 19 vaccine. There have been 22 confirmed cases of the Omicron. Health Secretary Savid Javid said that this number will undoubtedly go up.