Omicron storms Europe

infectious Omicron variant already accounts for a majority of covid-19 cases in London. It is now surging in continental Europe, prompting governments there to rush in new rules. Germany is imposing a 14-day quarantine on all travellers arriving from Britain, starting on December 20th. France closed its borders to tourists from Britain on December 18th. Restrictions on international travel will not be enough to contain the spread of the variant, however. On December 19th the Netherlands introduced a strict new lockdown, which will last until at least January 14th. Tighter rules are in prospect elsewhere, too.The scramble comes just as many European countries had begun to turn the corner on a prior wave of infections caused by the Delta variant. A peak had been passed in Germany and the Netherlands; the rate of increase in new cases in France had also begun to slow. Omicron is upending such trends. It is taking over in Denmark. The variant is spreading across the rest of Europe at “lightning speed”, said Jean Castex, the French prime minister, on December 17th, with the number of new cases due to Omicron doubling every two to three days. Oliver Véran, the French health minister, says that the variant could make up a majority of cases in France by Christmas.Even if Omicron turns out to be less severe than Delta (which is still not clear), the scale of this oncoming wave means that the number of serious cases may rise. Many front-line health workers may themselves be off work due to infection, putting further pressure on hospitals. To win some time, and ease this pressure, European governments have two principal weapons at their disposal. One is to accelerate the roll-out of booster jabs, in order to increase protection. The other is to limit social interactions, with the hope of slowing transmission.Start with boosters. The western edge of the European Union in particular has made good progress in administering first doses of covid-19 vaccines. Nearly 89% of the Portuguese, 83% of the Spanish, 80% of the French and 79% of the Italians have received at least one vaccine dose. This compares with 76% in Britain, 73% in Germany, 73% in America and even lower proportions in parts of central and eastern Europe. But seem to afford more significant protection against Omicron, and against severe cases in particular. Britain is ahead in this race: more than 40% of its population has had a booster, compared with 18% in America. The share is only 30% in Germany, 24% in France, and 23% in Italy.