OMICRON WAVE GETS FASTER — SO EVERY JAB COUNTS

MOST LONDONERS ‘FACE EXPOSURE TO VARIANT WITH CITY’S INFECTIONS DOUBLING IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS’

- Nicholas Cecil, Rachael Burford and Ross Lydall

MOST Londoners face being exposed to Omicron, with infections now estimated to be doubling in less than two days — but jabs will offer protection, leading scientists said today. In an exclusive interview with the Standard, Professor Graham Medley, who chairs the key Spi-M modelling sub-group but was speaking in a personal capacity, predicted a “huge wave” likely to continue into next year.

Confirmed Covid-19 cases in the capital have exploded from about 6,000 daily at the start of last week to a total of more than 24,500 announced for the past two days. The real figure is thought to be significantly higher, with tens of thousands of Londoners already infected with Omicron, and to be rising sharply.

A member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, Professor Medley said the “danger” would be if the virus moves into older age groups, especially for unjabbed individuals, as previous waves have done.

The Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine also emphasised that the death toll facing Britain would be far lower than when the pandemic first hit as most people have some immunity and “health outcomes, especially for the vaccinated, will be much, much better”.