(Alliance News) - England is building temporary hospitals to help cope with rising coronavirus cases, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday issued a stark warning to those not fully vaccinated.
The new "surge hubs" would deal with a potential overspill of inpatients as surging virus cases put the country's health service on a "war footing", according to officials.
Fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, daily cases have ballooned, standing at more than 189,000 on Thursday.
While stressing the success of the booster roll out, Johnson said he wanted to "speak directly to all those who have yet to get fully vaccinated. The people who think the disease can't hurt them".
"Look at the people going into hospital now, that could be you. Look at the intensive care units and the miserable, needless suffering of those who did not get their booster, that could be you," he said.
NHS England said it would provide extra beds in structures in the grounds of eight hospitals in cities including London, Bristol and Leeds from this week, with each designed to house around 100 extra patients.
Outside St George's Hospital in Tooting in south London, workers were already putting up a metal framework to support the roof of a new unit, AFP journalists saw on Thursday.
"Given the high level of Covid-19 infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing," National Medical Director Stephen Powis said.
He added that he hoped "we never to have to use these new hubs".
The extra beds are designed for patients who are recovering from illnesses, including those who no longer have Covid, to free up space and staff in the adjacent hospitals to treat large numbers of virus cases.
The UK has been one of Europe's worst hit countries with a death toll of over 148,000.
The government opened large "Nightingale" field hospitals in venues such as exhibition centres during the first wave of the virus. The facilities named after nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale were not widely used and staffing was a problem due to their vast size.
This time, the plan is to make available as many as 4,000 "super-surge beds", in some cases using existing hospital facilities such as gyms or education centres.
Medics warned of rising staff shortages due to people off sick with the virus or self-isolating.
England is the exception among UK nations in not imposing extra virus curbs for the festive period, while Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have imposed limits on how many people can socialise together and closed nightclubs.
Johnson has said that the high booster takeup rate in England plus evidence that Omicron is milder have allowed the country to avoid more restrictions.
He has urged people to get tested before attending New Year's events and be "sensible".
The numbers of people testing positive or in self-isolation is hitting sectors including transport.
The Southern rail company announced Thursday it will not run trains from London's Victoria station, one of the UK's busiest, until January 10 due to "coronavirus isolation and sickness".
Turning to the UK's booster drive, up to 40% of booked vaccine appointments are no-shows, health leaders have warned, as the government said it has met its target of offering every adult a booster jab by the end of the year.
The Department of Health & Social Care announced on Friday that it had met the goal set by the prime minister to ensure all eligible over-18s in England had the chance to get their vaccines by December 31.
It is understood this is based on the take-up of boosters and those eligible being contacted.
The NHS Confederation said it was "encouraging" to see people coming forward for their jabs, but it had heard reports that some vaccination clinics were only a third full as cases of the Omicron variant continued to rise rapidly.
Chief executive Matthew Taylor said some primary care leaders had told the organisation that people were not turning up to as many as 40% of their booked appointments.
"It is encouraging to see people still coming forward for their first and second doses, as well as the massive achievement on boosters," he said.
"However, cases of Omicron are rising rapidly… Health leaders are worried about the level of illness and demand that their staff across the NHS could have to respond to in January and so, it is vital that everyone who is eligible takes up the offer of a jab or booster shot.
"Some primary care leaders are telling us their vaccination clinics are only a third full and that people are not turning up to as many as 40% of their booked appointments.
"While walk-ins continue to be on offer, they are calling on people to stick to their scheduled vaccine appointments and if they can't for whatever reason that they cancel with notice as this will help manage pressures, particularly given the staffing crisis we are facing currently."
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he was "delighted" to confirm the booster target had been hit.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: "While eagle-eyed observers will note that the Prime Minister shifted the goalposts on what he actually promised to deliver, this should not detract one bit from the fact that the NHS has pulled off an unprecedented number of vaccinations in recent weeks.
"Everyone involved should be enormously proud of what they've achieved, from volunteer vaccinators through to members of our armed forces drafted in to help.
"I urge everyone who has yet to receive their first, second or booster jab to book without delay."
The government set a target at the end of November to offer a booster jab to everyone eligible aged 18 and over by the end of January 2021.
But this goal was subsequently brought forward by a month in response to the emerging threat of the new variant sweeping across the country.
Johnson said on December 12 that it was clear two doses of the vaccine were "simply not enough" to give the level of protection needed and that, without a boosted population, the NHS could be overwhelmed.
He therefore set a new deadline of offering every adult in England a booster by December 31.
According to analysis by the PA news agency, around 63% of all adults in the UK have now received a booster or third dose.
A total of 435,293 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Wednesday, the highest daily figure since December 23.
More than 33.5 million booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with 1.8 million in the past seven days.
source: AFP and Amy Gibbons and Catherine Lough from PA
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