Britain's 'warp speed' booster roll-out is flagging

LONDON • Prime Minister Boris Johnson's strategy for tackling a surge in Omicron infections in Britain is already facing setbacks, as medics warn of bottlenecks and staffing shortages in the vaccine booster programme.

Mr Johnson had promised to ramp up delivery of boosters to "warp speed" to achieve the target of reaching all adults by the end of this month, and he announced late on Monday that hundreds of new vaccine sites would open across the country, including at soccer stadiums and racecourses.

But amid reports of hours-long queues at walk-in centres, doubts are growing over how realistic the goal is as the number of daily infections hits 200,000.

The government's online booking platform has repeatedly crashed, and The Times newspaper reported National Health Service (NHS) leaders as saying the year-end deadline is unlikely to be met.

"It's a challenging logistical operation," Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News yesterday, adding: "There will be teething issues."

Mr Johnson said the target effectively means the NHS must beat its daily record for vaccinations - 844,000 in March - "day after day". The government is relying on the inoculation programme, combined with relatively light measures announced last week such as mandatory face coverings in indoor spaces, to get through the Omicron crisis.

Yet the risks could escalate rapidly if the government miscalculates. Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Parliament on Monday that the new coronavirus strain now accounts for 20 per cent of confirmed Covid-19 cases in England.

With cases thought to be doubling every two to three days, there is very little wiggle room to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed - even if the Omicron variant makes people less sick than Delta or other strains.

The British Medical Association, which represents UK doctors, is calling for the introduction of tougher measures, including requiring face coverings to be worn in all hospitality settings and limits on numbers for indoor gatherings.

"Despite describing the current situation as an 'emergency' with a 'tidal wave' of infections on the horizon, the government's response relying entirely on the vaccine booster programme is missing the wider measures required to control the spread of Omicron," it said in a statement on Monday.

The association also warned that the NHS is "severely understaffed" and that maintaining normal services alongside the vaccine booster programme is "potentially impossible".

On Monday, Mr Johnson had refused repeatedly to rule out imposing further rules before Christmas to try to contain Omicron's spread.

BLOOMBERG