this pandemic has been accused time and time again of acting too late, of waiting until it feels that the covid cases are rising rapidly before taking action. he's obviously very reluctant to bring in further restrictions on people, but as ever protecting the nhs has been what this government has been trying to do. they don't want the nhs to be overwhelmed. they do feel that vaccinations have made a huge difference. if you look at the number of cases compared to last year, yes, they are still pretty high across the uk, but the number of hospitalisations and deaths is nowhere near what it was. i think the big unknown with the new variant is whether the vaccinations will work. , ., ., is whether the vaccinations will work. ,., ., ., ., ., ., is whether the vaccinations will work. ., ., ., ~ work. good afternoon and thank you for “oininu work. good afternoon and thank you forjoining us- _ work. good afternoon and thank you forjoining us. as _ work. good afternoon and thank you forjoining us. as soon _ work. good afternoon and thank you forjoining us. as soon as _ work. good afternoon and thank you forjoining us. as soon as we - forjoining us. as soon as we learned _ forjoining us. as soon as we learned of— forjoining us. as soon as we learned of the new omicron variant, this government acted, introducing targeted _ this government acted, introducing targeted and proportioned measures as a precaution, while our scientists— as a precaution, while our scientists discovered more, and we are learning — scientists discovered more, and we are learning more every day. we