Boris Johnson receives Covid booster jab amid Omicron variant battle

2 December 2021, 15:45 | Updated: 2 December 2021, 16:21

Boris Johnson has received his Covid booster jab as the UK battles the new Omicron variant.

The prime minister gave a thumbs up after receiving the vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital near Waterloo.

It's the same hospital where he received life-saving treatment after becoming seriously ill with Covid in April last year.

Mr Johnson's jab follows his announcement earlier this week that the government is aiming to have offered a booster to all adults by the end of January, in the face of the emergence of the new variant.

Minister says the Govt is not 'cherrypicking advice'

The government also announced today that 114 million boosters have been secured to “future proof” the fight against variants such as Omicron.

The latest data show 19,015,975 people in the UK had received a booster as of Wednesday – equating to a third of over-12s.

Speaking to broadcasters after his vaccination, meanwhile, Mr Johnson said events such as Christmas parties should not be cancelled due to the new variant.

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He said: "The most important thing is that people should follow the guidance that we've set out and people shouldn't be cancelling things, and there's no need for that at all, that's not what we're saying."

A minister had earlier told LBC there is "urgent" work going on in government to understand the possible impact of Omicron.

Business minister George Freeman said: "We are looking at the data internationally and we're looking at the transmission data here in the UK, and we want to then understand how much this variant might change people's susceptibility to the disease."