Majority of England's Omicron cases ARE double-vaccinated: Health chiefs reveal 55% of those with Covid super-strain had both jabs amid fears it can dodge shots - as UK daily cases creep up

• Data on confirmed Covid cases in England show how the Omicron variant is already taking hold in the country
• Proportion of confirmed positive tests that didn't detect the spike protein increased from 0.1% to 0.3%
• One scientist said it equates around 60 more cases with hallmark than usual, suggesting Omicron infections
• Comes as R rate spirals from less than one to 3.5 in South Africa's Omicron epicentre Gauteng province 
• Lead UK epidemiologist says Omicron infections likely appear mild because of immunity from past infections 
• WHO officials suggested on Thursday that Covid cases were milder in those who caught the Omicron strain 
• Information released today revealed SAGE have suggested work from home guidance and vaccine passports
• Documents revealed cases could surge to 'similar or even larger' than previous waves

By JOE DAVIES and EMILY CRAIG HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE-3 December 2021 

More than half of England's Omicron Covid cases were in double-vaccinated people, health officials revealed today amid fears the super-mutant can slip past existing jabs.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said 12 of the 22 known cases up to November 30 — 55 per cent — were in people who had at least two doses. 

Cases of Omicron have risen domestically since, with 59 infections found across the UK in total. Six were unvaccinated, two were partially vaccinated with one dose and the vaccination status of the remaining two is not known.  

 

Another 75 cases of Omicron Covid are found in England: UK total doubles as health chiefs reveal the majority of sequenced super-variant infections are in fully vaccinated people, and other top stories from December 04, 2021.

 

But health chiefs caution that fare more adults in England are fully vaccinated than not jabbed, so it does not necessarily confirm that Omicron is vaccine-resistant. 

Separate official data shows that the proportion of positive Covid tests with a mutation synonymous with the highly-evolved strain is on the rise. Like Alpha, or the 'Kent variant', Omicron has a specific alteration which means it can be detected through PCR tests without the need for genomic sequencing.

The proportion of positive tests in England with this so-called S-gene dropout has risen from 0.1 per cent in the past week to 0.3 per cent, the equivalent of one in 330. Scientists said the increase in S-gene dropouts suggests there could be hundreds of Omicron cases that are flying under the radar currently.

Government figures showed another 50,584 positive tests were recorded in the last 24 hours, up one per cent on last Friday. Yesterday there were 53,945 infections announced.

But deaths fell by ten per cent week-on-week after 143 more fatalities were recorded. Latest figures showed hospitalisations rose eight per cent in a week after 787 were recorded on November 29. For comparison, seven days ago there were 730 admissions. 

Official data shows that the proportion of positive Covid tests with a mutation synonymous with the highly-evolved strain is on the rise. Like Alpha, or the 'Kent variant', Omicron has a specific alteration which means it can be detected through PCR tests without the need for genomic sequencing. The proportion of positive tests in England with this so-called S-gene dropout has risen from 0.1 per cent in the past week to 0.3 per cent, the equivalent of one in 330. Scientists said the increase in S-gene dropouts suggests there could be hundreds of Omicron cases that are flying under the radar currently 

 

Some 59 cases of Omicron have been confirmed in the UK so far. Twenty-nine infections have been spotted in England, including three in Westminster and two in each of Barnet, Buckinhamshire, Camden, Lewisham and South Northamptonshire. And Scotland's cases today increased by 16 to 29. The first 13 infections were divided between Lanarkshire and the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Today, two more cases were spotted in Lanarkshire, five more in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, while three were identified in the Highlands, one in Grampian and five in Forth Valley. And Wales announced this afternoon that its first case has been found in Cardiff

 

Almost 900,000 people in England had Covid on any given day last week, official data suggests. This chart shows overall Covid rates  

While the variant is likely only making up a small number of cases in the UK, it is feared the country could be on the brink of a fresh wave.  

In the minutes from SAGE's 97th meeting on Covid on Monday, the group said the emergence of Omicron meant vaccine passports and reducing social contacts through working from home were 'highly relevant'.

The expert panel admitted that the jury is still out on whether the variant will cause more or less severe illness, with conflicting reports coming out of the epicentre in South Africa, where doctors insist most cases are mild but hospital admissions seem to be rising. 

The meeting, chaired by England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and Chief Science Officer Sir Patrick Vallance, concluded that the strain's infectiousness was undisputed but evidence of its effect on vaccines is still murky. 

They said continued monitoring and 'active' measures would be required until 2026, although they did not stipulate what these may involve. 

But they conceded that despite the threat posed by, there is not enough evidence yet to suggest its 32 mutations making it significantly more vaccine evasive. 

Scientist won't know the full scale of Omicron's infectiousness, vaccine evasiveness or lethality for another two or three weeks, when they can isolate the virus in a lab and study its biology and test it against the blood of previous-infected or vaccinated people. 

But the variant appears to now be spreading domestically in England even though only a few dozen cases have officially been confirmed. 

Official data shows that the proportion of positive Covid tests with a mutation synonymous with the highly-evolved strain is on the rise. Like Alpha, or the 'Kent variant', Omicron has a specific alteration which means it can be detected through PCR tests without the need for genomic sequencing.

The proportion of positive tests in England with this so-called S-gene dropout has risen from 0.1 per cent in the past week to 0.3 per cent, the equivalent of one in 330. Scientists said the increase in S-gene dropouts suggests there could be hundreds of Omicron cases that are flying under the radar currently. 

Meanwhile, a major British study in booster vaccines found that both Moderna and Pfizer triple the level of T cells in double-jabbed people, which the scientists said made them confident boosters will give very high protection against Omicron. Some 59 cases have been confirmed in Britain so far. 

SAGE said bringing back face coverings in all indoor public settings — including restaurants and bars — remained a 'highly relevant' way of countering the variant. 

They said: 'Past SAGE advice on measures to reduce transmission remains highly relevant, including but not limited to advice around ventilation, face coverings, hand hygiene, reducing contacts (e.g. by working from home), vaccination certification, and the importance of effective testing, contact tracing and isolation.'

No10 introduced new rules on Monday to make face masks compulsory on public transport and in shops, hairdressers and beauty salons in England.

But it stopped short of bringing back the rules in bars, cafes and restaurants — unlike in Scotland, which has already brought them in.

Vaccine passports at large public events and the return of work from home guidance formed the two other key areas of the Government's winter 'Plan B', which ministers said would be 'enacted if the data suggests further measures are necessary to protect the NHS'.

Data in South Africa shows the R-rate has soared to over three per cent in recent weeks as Omicron took hold in Gauteng province

Covid booster vaccines are likely to offer good protection against the Omicron variant, experts behind a Government-funded new study say. Graph shows: The number of T-cells per 10^6 peripheral blood mononuclear cells in people who have had two doses of the AstraZeneca after a third dose of the Pfizer (red bars) and Moderna (blue bars) vaccines

 

 

 

 

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Cases in the UK have been increasing for the last two days after a further 10 cases of the variant were picked up in England yesterday, taking Britain's total number to 44.

But hospitalisations and deaths have continued to fall for weeks, with the increase in cases so far limited mostly to younger, less vulnerable age groups and booster vaccines limiting severe disease in the elderly.

However, members of the Department of Health's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) claimed the onset of Omicron could trigger a wave of infections 'even larger' than previous ones. 

Nervtag said: 'The subgroup concludes that if introduced into the UK, B.1.1.529 would likely be capable of initiating a new wave of infections. 

'We cannot exclude that this wave would be of a magnitude similar, or even larger, than previous waves.'

That could lead to levels of hospitalisation and death similar to last January if the strain proves to be as evasive as some experts' worse fears.

But SAGE insisted the extent to which the variant stops jabs working as they should is still not clear, with data from South Africa proving difficult to assess given the country's low vaccination rate compared to the UK.

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