Omicron spreading among over-50s, UK minister says

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading among over-50s, but data do not suggest further restrictions are needed because of the high uptake of booster jabs by older people, British Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said on Monday.

“We’re seeing leakage into the over-50s in terms of infection,” he told BBC radio. “They are boosted – 90% of the over 50s are boosted.”

He said the government would assess the situation in England on Wednesday. “There’s nothing in the data at the moment that would make me believe we need to go further.”

Questions about Omicron’s virulence are at the heart of scientific and political debate in many countries, as governments grapple with how to respond to the spread of the variant while researchers race to understand it.

Last month, findings of a study suggested reduced risks of hospitalisation and severe disease in people infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant versus the Delta one, though the authors say some of that is likely due to high population immunity.

However, the study found that people who were hospitalised with Omicron in October-November were 70% less likely to develop severe disease than those admitted with Delta between April and November.

“Compellingly, together our data really suggest a positive story of a reduced severity of Omicron compared to other variants,” said Professor Cheryl Cohen of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), one of the study’s authors.

She said this was further reinforced by surveillance data showing significantly lower hospitalisations and deaths in South Africa’s current Omicron-driven wave of infections than in previous waves, although case numbers were much higher.

Cohen said that the study’s findings could likely be generalised to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa that also have very high levels of previous infection.