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Prevalence of the double-jabbed in England’s first Omicron cases — UKHSA

More than half of the first 22 infected with the Omicron variant in England had been double jabbed, health officials have said, as cases detected in the UK escalate.

Early data suggests cases of omicron are doubling every two days, Prof Tim Spector of King's College London, has warned. His comments came as the UK on Tuesday (8 December) confirmed 437 omicron cases, including 333 in England, 99 in Scotland and five in Wales. On Sunday, the UK had 246 cases.

He said: "Because the current testing is missing a lot of [omicron cases], it's probably at least 1,000 to 2,000 I would guess at the moment."

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that by last Friday (3 December) there were 134 cases across the UK. On the same day, Scotland had picked up 16 cases in the previous 24 hours, five times the increase recorded the previous day, with some linked to a concert in Glasgow 11 days ago. Wales also announced its first case last Friday, reports The Guardian.

The UKHSA said the new variant was “transmitting rapidly and successfully”. A separate analysis by the agency of the first 22 Omicron cases in England also found that more than half of those infected had been double jabbed.

Twelve of those occurred more than 14 days after the individual had received at least two doses of vaccine. Two cases were more than 28 days after a first dose of vaccine. Six were unvaccinated, while two had no available data.

None of the cases is known to have been hospitalised or died, but the UKHSA said that “most have a specimen date that is very recent and there is a lag between onset of infection and hospitalisation and death”.

The UKHSA has also issued its highest “red” alert against the virus for its theoretical ability, based on its mutations, to evade both vaccine and naturally acquired immunity. It also warns it could reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody treatments, adds The Guardian.

 

The Guardian article – More than half Omicron cases in England are in the double jabbed (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

Omicron: Some simple steps to deal with the new variant

 

State of play with Omicron – The discovery, the spread, the politics, and the science

 

Mandatory vaccinations imminent in South Africa

 

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