prof sir andrew pollard, who helped develop the oxford astrazeneca vaccine has warned that vaccinating everyone on the planet against covid i9 regularly is not sustainable or affordable. professor neil ferguson a leading epidemiologist says he is cautiously optimistic omicron variant infection rates in london in the 18 50 age group may be plateauing. more on those stories in a moment as we build up to today s downing street press conference but first let s hear more from the health secretary sajid javid. sadly, we are seeing hospitalisations rise across the country, particularly in older age groups but, thankfully, those in intensive care, those numbers are broadly flat. but we do not know enough about omicron to know that the very best way to protect ourselves from hospitalisation, to protect our communities, is through vaccination and, in the last few weeks, we have all seen the big push on boosters because we know that
we will have to wait and see. decision the end of this hearing. we will have to wait and see. thank ou ve we will have to wait and see. thank you very much we will have to wait and see. thank you very much indeed. the british health secretary sajid javid says there s nothing in the data to suggest the government needed to toughen covid 19 restrictions in england, but that it was still too early to know how hospitals would cope. mrjavid said it was an incredibly challenging time for hospitals as the omicron variant of coronavirus surges, including among older people. sadly, we are seeing hospitalisations arise across the country, particularly in older age groups but, thankfully, there was in intensive care, those numbers are broadly flat. but we do not know enough about omicron to know that the very best way to protect ourselves from hospitalisation, to protect our communities is through vaccination and, in the last few weeks, we have all seen at the big push on boosters because w