Image source, AFP

We'll take a step away from UK news for the moment to take a look at the situation in South Africa, where the variant Omicron was first identified.

The country has recorded a sharp increase in Covid infections which have doubled since Monday.

Health officials say the newly discovered Omicron variant may be fuelling the surge, but it isn't clear how many of the new cases it accounts for.

Some 8,500 infections have been registered in the last 24 hours.

The United States has identified its first Omicron case in someone who had returned to the country from South Africa.

Many questions about the new variant remain to be answered, including whether it is more transmissible and how much protection current vaccines provide.

Image source, EPA

There is "no correct answer" to deal with the uncertainty posed by a pandemic but the standard response is to be cautious, a statistics expert has told the BBC.

Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter says there are "huge uncertainties" around the Omicron variant.

He tells Radio 4's Today programme: "We're plunged into a situation, new uncertainty about whether there's increased transmission, whether it can evade immunity and so on. And we are going to find out more.

"But what we do in the meantime? The standard thing to do when you're faced with really quite deep uncertainties is to be cautious. The precautionary principle is rational."

He adds, however, there is "no correct answer", saying: "I've got considerable sympathy with the decision-makers.

"There's no precise thing to do."

More from Prof Adam Finn who says the delivery of Covid vaccines, rather than the supply, is limiting the speed at which people get jabbed.

The UK government says all adults will be offered a booster jab by the end of January. To reach this goal the rate which jabs are being given needs to be almost doubled to the levels seen in the spring, when about four million doses a week were being administered.

Prof Finn tells BBC Breakfast: "During the course of next year we should expect the number of doses available to countries around the world to really go up really very rapidly.

"But that doesn't mean that they'll necessarily be able to provide those vaccines to people as quickly as we would like.

"Actually, right now in this country we have to think in the same terms - we've given ourselves a very big challenge here offering boosters to adults over the next two months.

"Literally, the numbers of pairs of hands of people who will be able to get those vaccines will be the rate-limiting step."

Scientists are still unclear on whether people will need to get Covid-19 booster jabs every year, a member of the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says.

Professor Adam Finn tells BBC Breakfast: "It's hard to say whether we'll all need boosters indefinitely - it really does depend on how much further this virus can evolve."

As we've been reporting, the UK government has ordered another 114m vaccine doses, which will be delivered in 2022 and 2023.

The deals are for 60m additional doses of the Moderna vaccine and 54m more Pfizer/BioNTech doses.

It's important to note that these are not doses for the current booster programme - rather, they are jabs that could be used next winter and beyond.

Here's where that puts the total number of jabs the UK has ordered since the start of the pandemic:

The UK is entering a private-public partnership and investing half a billion pounds in genomic sequencing and surveillance of coronavirus variants, says the science minister.

George Freeman says another £5bn will be spent on health research in the NHS and investment in vaccine manufacturing.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is making sure we are leading as a science superpower in the science of vaccinology and pathogen detection and genomics and we are also leading on the rollout of vaccines here in the UK."

Asked how the ramped-up vaccine rollout will impact already strethced GP services, he says the pandemic has caused a "huge interruption to normal service" and there are "very difficult clinical judgements being made every day".

Many GP surgeries have warned that they are already at full capacity.

Image source, EPA

Science minister George Freeman refuses to be drawn on whether Downing Street held a Christmas party last December when gatherings were banned under coronavirus rules.

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I have no idea, I wasn't there. But I'm was told by those who were there all the guidance was observed."

It is put to Freeman that there could not have been a party if guidance was observed, as he says.

He replies: "I'm not going to get drawn into who was or wasn't in which room in No 10 last year, that's not my job... I'm just going to have to keep saying the same thing."

• Downing Street Christmas party claims: Playing by the rules?

Whether work Christmas parties go ahead this year is a decision for business bosses, says science minister George Freeman.

When asked what he says to companies considering cancelling their Christmas parties, he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "In the end each business, each family, each community will need to make their own decisions."

He says: "We've tried to lay the foundations for controlling the spread of the virus. And this year we won't have anything like the level of constraints as we did last year due to the success of the vaccine rollout."

It is put to Freeman that the head of the UK Health Security Agency Dr Jenny Harries says don't socialise if you don't need to. And Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey says don't snog strangers under the mistletoe.

Freeman says that for many small businesses, four or five staff who are working together anyway who gather for drinks does not pose a large risk. But big companies that fly staff in from all over the world may decide this year is is not sensible.

"In the end I think business people know how to make those decisions," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

There has been a "sharp series of cancellations" in Christmas parties since the emergence of the Omicron variant, according to the executive chairman of a major ad agency.

Sir Martin Sorrell, of S4Capital, says there is "extreme" uncertainty.

Asked if they were cancelling office parties, he told BBC's Radio 4's Today programme: "It's not so much what we're doing as what we see our clients doing and other people.

"The answer is they are doing that, they are cancelling, [there has] been quite a sharp series of cancellations since this happened just, what, three, four, five days ago."

He says while it is "an extremely difficult situation" for the government, "we have been through this before with Delta and the previous variants so you would have thought the government would be a little bit more prepared for what may or may not happen".

Read more: Health secretary: No need to cancel Christmas party plans

Image source, Reuters

People should not kiss anyone they do not know over Christmas to reduce the spread of Covid, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey has said.

She says people should enjoy Christmas but: "I don't think there should be much snogging under the mistletoe."

Coffey had been asked by ITV's Robert Peston whether the public should limit socialising over the next few weeks.

She added the government was working hard so we can all enjoy a "knees-up".

Her remarks come after Dr Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency, said people should not socialise "when we don't particularly need to".

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people not to cancel Christmas events like parties - and said the government was not changing its guidance "about how people should be living their lives".

Health Secretary Sajid Javid then said people should consider measures such as taking Covid tests and wearing face masks when socialising - however he reiterated that there was no need to call off Christmas parties.

Here's how scientists believe the AstraZeneca Covid vaccination could trigger blood clots in very rare cases.

Image source, Cardiff University

Scientists believe they have found the "trigger" that leads to extremely rare blood clots after the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.

The team of scientists from Wales and the United States have shown, in a lot of detail, how a protein in the blood is attracted to a key component of the vaccine.

They believe this leads to a chain reaction – involving the immune system – that can lead to dangerous blood clots.

Although the vaccine is thought to have saved about one million lives from Covid, there are serious concerns about it causing rare blood clots.

A spokeswoman for AstraZeneca stressed that clots were more likely to occur because of a Covid infection than the vaccine, and that the complete explanation for why they occur had not yet been established.

Image source, Reuters

The boss of the UK medicines regulator - which has given the green light to a new Covid treatment that could cut hospitalisation and death by 79% in high-risk patients - says it "signals another significant step forward in our fight against this devastating disease".

Dr June Raine, MHRA chief executive, says: "With no compromises on quality, safety and effectiveness, the public can trust that the MHRA have conducted a robust and thorough assessment of all the available data."

Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, chairman of the Commission on Human Medicines, says it has independently reviewed the data and agrees with the MHRA’s regulatory approval of Xevudy.

“When administered in the early stages of infection, sotrovimab (Xevudy) was found to be effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death in high-risk individuals with symptomatic Covid-19."

The government and the NHS will confirm how the treatment will be deployed to patients in due course.

Xevudy is the brand name of the monoclonal antibody treatment called sotrovimab, developed by GSK and Vir Biotechnology.

It works by binding to the spike protein on the outside of the Covid-19 virus. This prevents the virus from attaching to and entering human cells, so that it cannot replicate in the body.

Sotrovimab is administered by drip over 30 minutes. It is approved for people aged 12 and above who weigh more than 40kg.

The UK medicines regulator recommends its use as soon as possible and within five days of symptom onset.

It is too early to know whether the omicron variant has any impact on sotrovimab’s effectiveness but the MHRA says it will work with the company to establish this., external

A new Covid antibody treatment made by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been approved for people in the UK at high risk of developing severe Covid-19, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says., external

In a clinical trial, a single dose of the monoclonal antibody called Xevudy or sotrovimab was found to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death by 79% in high-risk adults with symptomatic Covid-19 infection.

Image source, Reuters

While the UK secures a deal to buy 114 million vaccine doses for the next two years, poorer countries are not able to give first jabs to the most vulnerable, a boss at the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies programme, says he is not aware of any evidence that would suggest offering booster jabs to the entire population gives any greater protection to healthy people.

Asked about the acceleration of the UK's booster programme, he told a press briefing: "It's tough for some countries who have huge amounts of excess vaccine to decide who to give it to - but that's not the problem being faced by a lot of countries around the world who can't get even primary vaccination to their most vulnerable.

"So it's a luxurious position to be in if you're in a position to be able to have enough vaccine to do that."

He added: "The primary objective, I think of all governments, now must be, in the face of Delta and Omicron and others, is to ensure that all vulnerable individuals, people of older age, people with underlying conditions, are immediately offered the vaccine to ensure that everyone has had at least a primary course of vaccine."

The head of Pfizer has told the BBC coronavirus vaccines will be needed for many years to come.

Pfizer chief executive Dr Albert Bourla says: "Based on everything I have seen so far, I would say that annual vaccinations... are likely to be needed to maintain a very robust and very high level of protection."

It is too early to say whether existing vaccines will need tweaking - but Pfizer is already working on an updated jab that could be ready in 100 days.

Pfizer will generate at least $35bn of Covid vaccine sales this year and has seen its share price soar.

Dr Bourla denies profiteering - saying the jab was the "cost of a takeaway meal" for richer countries but sold at no profit to low-income ones - but accepted rich countries such as the UK had placed orders early and availability had initially been limited.

You can read our exclusive interview with Dr Bourla here.

The latest government data, external shows just over 116m vaccine doses have been given in the UK.

Of those:

• 50,994,257 are first doses
• 46,399,306 are second doses
• 18,608,124 are boosters or third doses

Boosters and third doses currently make up the vast majority of jabs - almost 400,000 were reported on Tuesday, compared to 30,539 first doses, and 32,157 second doses.

On the deal to buy 114 million vaccines, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid has thanked the government's Vaccines Taskforce for "securing the vaccines the country needs to keep this virus at bay".

He says: "These new deals will future proof the Great British vaccination effort - which has so far delivered more than 115 million first, second and booster jabs across the UK - and will ensure we can protect even more people in the years ahead.

"This is a national mission and our best weapon to deal with this virus and its variants is to get jabs in arms - so when you are called forward, get the jab and get boosted."

Covid vaccinations will become a way of lifepublished at 06:50 Greenwich Mean Time 2 December 2021

06:50 GMT 2 December 2021

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The deal to buy 114 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in 2022 and 2023 is another sign that vaccination against Covid is going to become a way of life.

These are not doses for the booster programme – supplies of those are already in the country or about to arrive.

Instead this is about securing vaccination for next winter and beyond.

The deal includes access to tweaked vaccines to combat new variants if that is needed.

But negotiations were already in the pipeline before the emergence of Omicron.

The identification of the new variant just hastened the agreement of it.