PM addresses NHS fears, & face masks in schools, as he visits Bucks Vaccination Centre

As he toured the Stoke Mandeville hub, Boris Johnson thanked volunteers at the centre, talked about the pressures the NHS could face in the next few weeks, despite the current variant being milder than previous ones, and the decision to re-introduce face masks in secondary schools.

Get Boosted Now to protect yourself and your loved ones – it’s the easiest New Year’s resolution you can make.

Thank you to staff and volunteers at the Guttmann Vaccination Centre in Aylesbury, where they’ve given over 145,000 vaccinations. pic.twitter.com/bUbKxroMao

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 3, 2022

Speaking at the centre in Aylesbury, he told reporters "I think we have to recognise that the pressure on our NHS and hospitals is going to be considerable in the course of the next couple of weeks and maybe more. There's no question that Omicron continues to surge through the country". 

Mr Johnson said he appreciated the pressure NHS staff were under, and that it was "vital that we make sure that we help them by trying to contain the pandemic" by getting vaccinated and following plan B measures. The MP said "We are also continuing the massive booster role out, like you see happening in Aylesbury here today. And not just the booster role out, but the vaccination programme for those who haven't yet had their first or second vaccination".

And, although he said the UK is in a stronger position than last year, warned it would be "absolute folly to say that this thing is all over now bar the shouting".

The trust's medical director Dr Colin Farquharson said: "As a result of significant staffing pressures due to absence related to Covid-19, we are having to take additional steps to maintain services."

While Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts, said "a number of trusts across country have declared internal critical incidents over the last few days".

Joe Harrison, the chief executive of Milton Keynes University Hospital said his site was not yet declaring a critical incident but said on Twitter he expected the "very pressured" situation to get worse before it got better.

In a bid to stop the spread of the Omicron variant, the Government announced secondary school pupils would be asked to wear masks in the classroom again.

Mr Johnson said he was not happy about the idea but that it was a necessary step.

He said: "There's an increasing body of scientific support for the idea that face masks can contain transmission.

"We don't want to keep them. I don't like the idea of having face masks in (the) classroom any more than anybody else does, but we won't keep them on a day more than is necessary."

PM Boris Johnson at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium Vaccination centre with Aylesbury MP Rob Butler.