New UK study says people catching Omicron are up to 70% less likely to need hospital care

A major analysis by the UK Health Security Agency says people catching Omicron are 50% to 70% less likely to need hospital care compared with previous variants.

The agency says its early findings are "encouraging" but the variant could still lead to large numbers of people in hospital.

The study also shows the jab's ability to stop people catching Omicron starts to diminish 10 weeks after a booster dose.

The report comes hot on the heels of data from South Africa, Denmark, England and Scotland which all pointed to reduced severity.

BBC News reports the latest analysis is based on all cases of Omicron and Delta in the UK since the beginning of November, including 132 people admitted to hospital with the variant.

[Source:  BBC]