Dominic Raab promises ‘much better Christmas’ than last year due to booster jabs

A Government minister has promised that Brits will enjoy a ‘much better Christmas than last year’.

But Dominic Raab conceded that the Government could introduce further Covid restrictions between now and Christmas Day as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly across the UK.

On Sunday, Health Secretary Sajid Javid refused to rule out more restrictions before Christmas Day on Saturday.

The cabinet is said to be considering three options – including a full national lockdown – which may even come in before Christmas, though some ministers are thought to be against further restrictions.

In 2020, Boris Johnson insisted that festive celebrations would go ahead as normal despite bleak warnings about a Covid surge – before U-turning at the last minute and cancelling Christmas.

But delaying that lockdown meant many hospitalisations and deaths were already ‘baked in’ and shortly afterwards more than 1,000 people were dying with Covid every day in the UK, as the NHS teetered under immense strain.

There are fears that the same mistake is being made yet again, with experts warning that any delay to new restrictions will only mean harsher and longer measures become necessary.

Yet the situation is different to last year, with millions of people now given significant protections by vaccines.

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126 million doses have been administered in the UK, including 28 million third jabs.

But the Omicron strain is significantly more infectious than previous variants – and even if a smaller percentage of those who catch it need hospital treatment, experts fear the number who do could overwhelm the NHS.

Data remains unclear but many scientists now believe Omicron is no more dangerous than Delta – though remain unsure if it is milder.

More than 350,000 cases have been confirmed in the last four days alone.

If 2% of them went to hospital, that would be 7,000 hospitalisations – an average of 1,750 a day.

But case numbers are expected to continue to rise dramatically, with the doubling rate possibly even as low as every two days.

Modelling from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) suggests that if ministers stuck to the current Plan B measures, there would be a peak of 3,000 per day.

On the picture of a gathering in the Downing Street garden during the first national lockdown, Mr Raab said having a drink ‘after a long day or long week’ was not against the regulations.

The photo, obtained by The Guardian, showed Mr Johnson, his then-fiancee Carrie, and 17 other staff members in the garden on May 15, 2020, with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard on a table in front of the Prime Minister.

Mr Raab added: ‘It is not just a place of work for all the staff that work in Number 10 and the Prime Minister, but it is also the the residence of the Prime Minister and his very young family.

‘I genuinely don’t think it gets classified as a party because Carrie popped down and spent a little bit of time there with her husband.’

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MORE : Boris Johnson ‘considering three options for new Omicron restrictions’