Booster race: why the arrival of Omicron raises the stakes

Despite the rollout of booster vaccines, experts fear the new variant could cause Covid-19 infection rates to reach 10,000 cases a day by the new year

Christmas shoppers on Grafton Street: ‘Right now we should be battening down the hatches in terms of social engagements in preparation, but it seems most people don’t realise what’s coming’ . PIcture: RollingNews.ie

For much of this year, the pandemic was becoming less of a problem in Ireland. The vaccination programme greatly reduced the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths overall and allowed for considerably more freedoms compared to this time last year. But, of late, the pandemic has become increasingly more complex.

Despite hopes for herd immunity, so far the level of immunity offered by the first generation of vaccines has not been enough to support a ...