Long queues formed this morning as people over 40 took advantage of the walk-in Covid jab booster sessions.

From today (Saturday, December 18) top-up jabs are available to all adults aged 40 and over and those in at-risk groups.

Walk-in clinics have been organised at the Chester Street vaccination hub in Douglas, where an additional 3,000 slots are being made available between today and Christmas Eve, in an effort to get as many booster vaccines into arms as possible.

The extra slots are in addition to existing appointments - those which have been booked by people online, and those sent out by letter.

The walk-in slots are available to anyone aged 40 and over and those who are medically vulnerable regardless of whether they already have an appointment, which means people can get vaccinated sooner than was previously planned by attending a walk-in session.

There is no need to cancel a booked appointment - that will be handled by the administration team at the walk-ins.

Those who wish to retain their pre-booked appointments can do so, and attend as invited.

The government says its priorities are protecting the population from serious illness caused by Covid-19 as the omicron variant brings another wave of infections, and protecting already stretched health and care services.

By topping-up immunity with a booster, people can protect themselves, their loved ones and the wider community against the continuing pandemic.

Any suggestion that omicron’s effects are less severe than previous strains were today put in doubt.

The Financial Times’ lead story reported that researchers had warned there was “no evidence” that Omicron was milder than the Delta variant.

The Imperial College London research, which analysed UK infection data, casts doubt on the hopes of some experts, based on reports from medics in South Africa, that a change in the virulence of the new variant would limit pressure on health systems.

An emergency meeting of ministers in the UK will be held today to examine the latest Omicron data, which one government insider described to the FT as “pretty bleak”. Another described the threat of the variant as “potentially pretty terrifying”.

Coronavirus booster shots could provide about 85 per cent protection against severe illness from Omicron, and more than 90 per cent protection against death, 60 days after being administered, the study also found.

But Prof Azra Ghani, an epidemiologist at Imperial and one of the study’s authors, said the record-breaking infection levels from Omicron could still lead to “a large number of people requiring hospitalisation”.