JCVI Member: Medics are 'keeping their fingers crossed' booster jabs will deal with Omicron

1 December 2021, 07:46

JCVI member speaks to LBC

By EJ Ward

Dr Maggie Wearmouth, a GP and member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said medics were "keeping our fingers crossed" that boosting people's immunity through more jabs would deal with the Omicron variant, adding that vaccines work against the dominant Delta strain.

She told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: "We don't have the answer for absolutely everything and we would be accused of complacency if we didn't warn people and we didn't do this while we were waiting the few weeks while we had the scientific data."

Asked about her own Christmas plans, she said: "I'm keeping them open, I have to say."

Later today Boris Johnson will face further questions about the Government's approach to halting the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant amid criticism from Tory MPs and suggestions from a senior health official that festive gatherings should be shelved.

The Prime Minister urged people not to cancel Christmas parties or school nativity plays during a press conference on Tuesday where he promised to "throw everything" at the booster vaccination campaign to tackle the variant's spread.

But it is the booster campaign which the Government believes provides the greatest line of defence against the new variant and the Prime Minister promised that everyone eligible would be offered a booster jab by the end of January with at least 400 military personnel helping the NHS, and vaccination centres "popping up like Christmas trees".