Covid-19 pandemic: Global call for booster shot amid fresh Omicron curbs

Singapore suspended quarantine-free travel bookings and Australia boosted its readiness on Wednesday by announcing new vaccination funding for clinics and pharmacies. As surging Omicron infections just days before Christmas forced authorities to impose new curbs and expedite booster shots, Israel said it would administer a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine to people over the age of 60 and medical personnel. It has become the first nation in the world to do so on such a widespread basis. 

Meanwhile, France’s health minister Olivier Veran said the country could soon have around 100,000 new Covid-19 cases a day, up from around 70,000 currently as the country battles a fifth wave of the epidemic.

Governments globally have tightened social mobility restrictions and made urgent pleas for citizens to vaccinate as Omicron emerges as the dominant strain of the coronavirus, upending reopening plans that many hoped would herald the start of a post-pandemic era in 2022.

In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Airways said it would cancel some passenger flights in January after the Asian financial centre tightened quarantine rules. Wednesday also saw Japan report its first suspected case of community transmission of Omicron. 

Countries are also looking to shorten the time between second vaccination shots and boosters. However, wary of public lockdown fatigue, there is reluctance to return to the strict curbs imposed during the spread of the Delta variant earlier this year. 

In fact, the British government  from Wednesday reduced the Covid-19 self-isolation period to seven days from 10 days for people in England who get a negative result on a lateral flow test two days in a row.