London | Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday that 12 people infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had died and 104 had been hospitalized in the UK, in the face of a wave of infections that has led to calls for more restrictions.

“If we watch Omicron, what we do know is that it is spreading very quickly. We currently have 104 hospitalizations due to Omicron, and we have caused 12 deaths. There is a time delay in terms of what we are doing,” Raab, who is also the attorney general, told Times Radio. with data, so we don’t really know how dangerous that is.”

“The only thing we know is that those who receive a booster injection benefit from more than 70% effective protection,” he added, justifying the acceleration of the booster vaccine campaign approved by the government eight days ago.

Nearly half of those over 12 years of age have received a booster or third dose of the Covid vaccine in the UK, which has experienced a sharp increase in the number of cases (+82,886 recorded in 24 hours on Sunday) attributed to the Omicron variant. The country is one of the hardest-hit by the pandemic in Europe with more than 147,000 deaths.

Faced with this outbreak of cases, Boris Johnson voted for new restrictions, including the mask portion inside public places (except bars and restaurants) and the introduction of a health card to enter health clubs. But part of his conservative camp opposed these new measures, which were seen as fatal to liberties.

Boris Johnson finds himself torn between his scientific advisors who call on him to act as fast as possible to slow Omicron and some of his ministers who are slowing down more action.

About a third of its ministers, including Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, oppose the new restrictions, according to The Times.

On Sunday, the Minister of Health, Sajid Javid, did not rule out setting new rules by Christmas, explaining that “there is nothing guaranteed during this pandemic.”