Omicron variant: in the face of the “tidal wave” in the United Kingdom, the press beats the recall – archyworldys

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In the aftermath of a speech by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the media across the Channel largely seized, Monday, December 13, the announcements of the head of government to face the threat of the new variant. While not all are openly calling for vaccination, almost all newspaper headlines and websites feature articles on the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, Omicron, and the expansion of vaccination to all. adults over 18 in England, a measure supposed to break this new wave of contamination in the country.

Already largely affected by a first more contagious variant, Alpha, the United Kingdom is once again at the forefront against Omicron. More easily transmitted, this new variant – of which we still don’t know a lot – is expected to become dominant in the UK in the coming days, with Mr Johnson warning he could “Overload the NHS [National Health Service, le système de santé public britannique] and lead to many deaths ”. On Monday, at least one person died in hospital after being infected with Omicron, announced the prime minister, visiting a vaccination center.

“Omigawd! “

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking in London on December 12, 2021.

British tabloid The Sun, close to the conservative camp, title his edition of the day in connection with the Omicron variant “Omigawd! “, Another spelling of the exclamation of surprise common in the United Kingdom” Oh my god! “. Another tabloid, The Daily Mirror, further to the left, takes up, in bold and capital letters, the name of the plan to fight against Covid-19 presented by Mr. Johnson: “Get your booster now”. On its site, the third dose of vaccine also occupies the top of its home page, with an article reporting that the NHS online platform was down in the face of the influx of requests.

the Daily Mail also, although critical of government action, reserves the “one” of his site to Omicron and to the acceleration of the vaccination campaign before the end of the year holidays, however pointing to a “Nightmare before Christmas” due to a shortage of tests, the incident at the NHS site and a wait outside vaccination centers stretching to ” five hours “. “The farce of the recall of Boris”, still headlines the tabloid.

“The Omicron emergency”

The urgency of the situation, underlined by the speech of the British Prime Minister the day before, was reflected on Monday morning on the site of Guardian, dressed in a flashing red box and titled “Covid in the United Kingdom”. The daily, historically close to Labor, devoted its entire “front page” to the subject, soberly titling: “The Prime Minister is betting on a million doses of vaccine administered per day to stop the” tidal wave ”Omicron”. Finally, in its newsletter of the day, the Guardian open by “Rush on booster doses in the heart of the Omicron emergency”.

Likewise, another progressive media, The Independent, devoted its “one” to the “million injections per day to challenge the” tidal wave “linked to Covid-19”. The “one” of Times, also entirely devoted to Mr. Johnson’s announcements and factually titled “A booster dose for each adult before the end of the month”, still sounds good as an injunction. Like the British press, with fragmented opinions but entirely focused on vaccination and the concern around Omicron.

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