Prof Kate Ardern, senior director of public health for Greater Manchester, spoke of a “rapidly evolving situation” as Omicron spreads.
The director of Wigan Council said 55 cases of the new variant were identified in the district last week – many more than previously reported.
NHS staff and volunteers will be working flat out over the next two weeks to get the booster vaccines to as many people as possible by the end of the year.
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Prof Ardern
It comes as Omicron became the dominant variant in London this week and soon spread from the South East to the rest of the country.
Prof Ardern stressed the importance of introducing booster jabs but said a “package of measures” will be needed to stop the spread of the new variant.
She said: “Broadcast rates in the north of England are not quite as high as in the south of England. But it won’t be long before we catch up.”
The director of public health outlined the “very serious situation” at a meeting of the Health and Welfare Inquiry Committee this week.
She explained that the NHS – and GPs in particular – are expected to run vaccination clinics seven days a week and work 12-hour shifts as the roll-out of booster shots takes precedence over other services in the health system.
This is because booster shots are needed to protect against the serious effects of Omicron, which has been shown to be more easily transmissible.
The time it takes for Omicron’s infection rate to double is currently two to three days, Prof Ardern said, compared to five to six days for the Delta variant.
However, it takes seven to 14 days for the booster shot to fully protect people – and those infected with Covid have to wait 28 days before getting the shot.
Therefore, other measures are needed to slow the spread of Omicron.
Prof Ardern added: “The challenge is whether these measures will be enough to slow the rate of spread of Omicron for the vaccination program to try to at least keep up – or better, move forward.
“It is very important that we adhere to public health measures to try to contain the spread of Omicron. It is not enough to just rely on vaccination.”
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