Omicron fears spur countries to step up booster rollout and tighten restrictions

People queuing for booster jabs at St Thomas' Hospital, London, on Monday. Everyone over 18 in England will be offered booster jabs from this week, prime minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday night, as he declared an 'Omicron emergency'. 

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is expected to be the dominant variant in a number of countries, officials said on Monday, as the number of confirmed cases of Omicron across the EU doubled in the last 24 hours.

According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the total of 766 confirmed Omicron cases across the bloc yesterday had jumped to 1,686 today.