Omicron, the latest variant of the coronavirus, has now become the most dominant strain in parts of Manchester, with coronavirus cases rising across the region.
After the Prime Minister announced that Plan B will be coming into force, and booster jabs will be available for all over 18s, the Manchester Evening News asked its readers what they wanted to know from the area's health leaders.
Dr Helen Wall, Bolton's vaccine lead, Lynn Donkin, a consultant in public health for Bolton Council, and Rick Catlin, the deputy director of infection prevention and control for Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, sat down to answer the questions you wanted the answers to most.
How can we protect ourselves from the Omicron as we approach Christmas?
"We're aware that everybody's hearing about this new variant, Omicron, and some of the concerns that have been expressed about how this particular variant might be behaving and how quickly it is spreading," explained Ms Donkin.
"Even though this is a new variant, it is spreading more quickly, the things we need to do to stay safe and to help stop the spread are actually the same that we would do for any other variants.
"It is about that extra bit of vigilance, that extra bit of taking care and being cautious to wear face coverings, work from home where we can, stay at home if we're not feeling so good, get a test if we've got symptoms, and regularly test if we haven't got symptoms to spot and to have to help identify where we might have an infection that isn't displaying symptoms.
"People can use the NHS app to check into venues. Children should stay home from school if they are feeling unwell, and anyone within an education setting should be using the twice weekly lateral flow system.
"Boosters and vaccinations are an absolutely key part of what's going to help us to stay safer."
Dr Wall adds: " We absolutely need to do the rest as well. It's not enough for people to turn up to a walk-in site and be boosted and believe that they don’t need the other things that they can do to mitigate the risks.
"But boosters are key because the data is now telling us that two doses is not enough protection."
Will we meet the booster jab deadline of the end of the year?
“Every single person working on this is committed to doing what we can to get through those numbers," says Dr Wall.
"One of the key messages is that people need to come forward for that booster because we know now that the booster is really important at protecting us against the Omicron variant and it does lift that protection considerably."
What do I do if the national booking system goes down?
Dr Wall takes this question: "Following the Prime Minister's announcement, I believe the national booking system went down fairly quickly, just because of the sheer volume of demand. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes of the national booking system to increase capacity as well. But I would ask again, that people just be patient because it will be back up and running.
"And on Wednesday, I believe the national teams will be contacting those that are eligible, as they have done with everybody else as we have opened up the cohorts.
"I’d ask that you don't contact your GP practice to ask them about a booster because we need to keep those lines free for patients who need medical help.
"Your GP practices are unlikely to be able to offer anything more than what information is out there on our social media channels of the CCG which is that we have several walk-in sites that are now accepting people, and practices that are vaccinating their own patients may contact patients themselves."
I've seen queues at vaccination sites, should I be worried?
"People are going to have to be a little bit patient. Our sites are anticipated to be very busy. We just ask that everybody is kind," says Dr Wall.
"Our staff are under an immense amount of pressure. A lot of them are working above and beyond their normal day jobs. A lot of them are volunteers or retired clinicians who come back to help us do this mission. We ask the public support us in this and show same amount of kindness that they did this time last year when we set off on this mammoth task."
What about pressure on the rest of the NHS system?
“One of our issues at the moment is not immediately Covid related," says Mr Catlin.
"We've seen a lot more pressure with general presentations and that's causing us issues that we haven't had before at points during the pandemic, because it gives us less flexibility when all our hospital beds are in occupation, which is a situation we're finding ourselves in on a fairly regular basis.
“But we've been doing this now for 18 months. So we've got clearly defined plans, strategies and experience in managing people as safely as possible."
What is the importance of the booster jab? Are vaccines like antibiotics and once you've had a certain number they become less effective?
"Absolutely not," says Dr Wall. "Vaccines are almost the exact opposite to that, in that the more you have, the more your immune system learns to respond to that illness.
I've heard from a lot of patients that it is a concern that they have to have more than two vaccines, they think this is a bad thing. I see this as a really positive thing.
There are numerous vaccines where We have to get more than one vaccine and each time we give a vaccine, it's not because the other one has run out, it's because it's increasing your body's ability to respond. Another vaccine builds your immune system’s memory in order to remember that last attempt it fought the illness and build it stronger.
It’s a bit like training a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger it gets, and that's what we need to do with vaccines. The more vaccines you have, the stronger you get."
Mr Catlin added: "The actual vaccines don’t stay in the system very long. So your immune system takes a really crude sketch the first time.
"The next time it sees the virus, it looks a bit like a sketch. Every time you add the vaccine, your immune system is able to put more detail into the sketch.
"So then if you actually expose the virus, it’s got a better idea, it can respond faster, and the antibodies that you produce are a closer fit for the virus when it comes - because you've had a few opportunities now to refine what the bits of the virus that you need to attack look like.
"It’s about becoming more and more acquainted with the bits of the virus your body needs to respond to."
Why should I have the vaccine if I can still get Covid after multiple doses?
Mr Catlin says: "A successful vaccine doesn't necessarily mean no one gets a Covid infection. It just means when people do get it, it reduces the likelihood that they will have a severe life threatening illness, or need hospital treatment.
"I can imagine people out there who've had two or three doses and then get infected, wondering what was the purpose of the vaccine? The purpose is that you’re still alive to tell the tale.
"All the evidence says your illness will be milder after the vaccine."
What are the side effects of the jab?
"The risks, the risks in terms of side effects are the same for any of the vaccines whether it's the first dose, secondary, booster, third dose," says the vaccine lead.
"I always tell people it's fifty-fifty between people who won't get any side effects and those that will.
"The most common side effect is a sore, stiff arm, which is a bit heavy, and can last from a few hours to a couple of days.
"Then side effects can be feeling a bit of a headache, feeling a bit tired, a bit flu-like. But many people don't get any side effects. Any side effects that people do get are going to be less than a serious case of Covid."
Will we be asked to get another vaccine in a few months time?
"Nobody is clear on this," says Dr Wall. "We haven't got an answer. It may be that we don't, because the booster dose may be enough protection. It might not be. We can only work with what we've got right now. We have to wait and see."
Mr Catlin adds: " If the virus that's to mutate and these vaccines become less effective, then we may end up in a situation like we are with flu where we get a booster vaccine every year and a slightly different variation of the flu strain is in the vaccine because the flu has changed.
"If the current vaccine becomes less effective, we might need a new booster to cope with new variants, but that’s all in the future.
"For people who are clinical extremely vulnerable, their dose schedules, they get three vaccines, and their fourth dose is a booster."
