As far as I can find out, the Telegraph report follows research in S Africa. Other sources (WHO) report that the situation is different in the UK. Quoting from a WHO report released on 13 Dec, Fortune magazine says that…
“The WHO said recent reports from the U.K., where the Omicron variant has spread widely despite the country’s high vaccination rate, are a particular concern. The U.K. has fully vaccinated 70% of its population, and 29% of U.K. citizens have also gotten booster shots. But experts warn that Omicron appears to be spreading faster in the U.K. than in South Africa, where the variant was first detected and where only 26% of people are fully vaccinated.”
As I’m sure we are all aware, the UK government are bringing in new measures to cope. Elsewhere, other data, shows different factors:
“On Sunday, researchers in Hong Kong released a study showing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 32 times less effective in killing off the Omicron variant than Delta, matching a study in South Africa where researchers recently said that two shots of Pfizer’s vaccine may be 23% effective in stopping Omicron infections.
“The WHO noted that preliminary findings indicate Omicron infections may be “less severe” than Delta, but the global health authority added that it is too early to make any firm conclusions about the strain’s severity. ‘More data are needed to understand the severity profile,’ the WHO wrote.”
I totally agree with the WHO on this last point. We need more data. So we, as vulnerable and clinically extremely vulnerable, intend to self-isolate and take the advised safety measures. A shame that we won’t see the children/grandchildren over the festive period but until we know exactly what is happening, it is safer.
For what it’s worth, UK govt figures, if I read them correctly, say that the daily death rate is much lower than at the peak of the outbreak. However, the daily case-rate for yesterday was 78,000 which the highest ever.