Omicron risk: where Boris Johnson and his advisers disagree

Prime minister said booster jabs will give ‘the protection you need’ but Sage experts are more cautious

Jenny Harries
Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency
(Image credit: Matt Dunham/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The prime minister appeared to contradict one of his top health officials yesterday on how to respond to the Omicron variant, amid what was described as a “day of muddled messaging” from No. 10.

The head of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday morning that everyone should “decrease our social contacts a little bit” in order to limit the spread of Covid-19, and not socialise “when we don’t particularly need to”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up