MPS have allegedly been warned to be "on standby" to vote on new restrictions during Christmas week as Omicron continues to grip the nation.

Plan C may be enacted before Christmas as MPs have been told to prepare for a Parliament recall on December 21 if the Covid situation spirals, it's been reported.

This means indoor mask-wearing and table service in pubs and bars may be back before the festive season.

And according to sources, a Plan D is already being considered – which would force punters to dine outdoors again.

A Health Department source told the Mirror: “If you follow the science, we should really be doing Plan C now. The PM is gambling with the NHS to save his leadership.

“But we all know the PM can’t let anything hit Christmas. That really did him damage last time round. To do it again would be killer.”

Boris is allegedly hoping he can postpone any new restrictions needed until New Year’s Day at the earliest.

Professor Stephen Reicher of St Andrews University added: “Omicron is coming at us like an express train. We must slow it down to buy time otherwise we will be in a crisis at Christmas.”

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But data shows that Covid vaccines do protect you from Omicron – and getting your booster before the festive season will protect you and your loved ones.

The Sun's Jabs Army helped administer millions of jabs this year – and now we are calling Brits to get their boosters.

Meanwhile, Sajid Javid has been told to trigger Plan C restrictions within a WEEK by gloomy health officials, it's been reported.

The Health Secretary was allegedly told by doom-mongers at the UK Health and Security Agency that Omicron risks overwhelming the NHS as 5,000 Brits could be admitted to hospital a day.

Mr Javid was allegedly told that “stringent national measures” need to be imposed by 18 December to avoid surpassing last year's winter peak.

In documents seen by the Guardian, the advice said that the tough action is "needed in December."

The "official and sensitive" warning to the Health Secretary said: "The key point is that under a range of plausible scenarios, stringent action is needed on or before 18 December 2021 if doubling times stay at 2.5 days.

XMAS FEARS

"Even if doubling times rise to around 5 days, stringent action is likely still needed in December.”

It adds: “The rapid spread of Omicron means that action to limit pressures on the health system might have to come earlier than intuition suggests.”

This comes as Michael Gove has hinted that Plan C restrictions are on the cards as he warned that the spread of Omicron was "deeply concerning."

The gloomy minister warned Britain faces an onslaught of mutant Covid cases — as he opened the door to further restrictions under Plan C.

The Levelling up and Communities minister insisted: “We need to keep everything under review.”

He said: “We recognise the importance of balancing people’s abilities to get on with their lives, with the need to protect them against this virus. But action is absolutely required.

“As new data comes in we will consider what action we do require to take in the face of that data.”

Gove appeared to open the door to new Covid restrictions while admitting the UK faces a "deeply concerning situation" because of Omicron.

However – a third jab can combat Omicron and save us from more lockdown pain, says a morale-boosting study.

Read our Omicron live blog for the latest updates

Any two doses plus a Pfizer booster give up to 75 per cent protection, experts say.

Three shots also defend better against severe disease or death — but two doses will soon fail to prevent even a third of cases.

Mr Javid said: “This data shows how important boosters are.”

Mary Ramsay, jabs chief at the UKHSA, said: “These early estimates show that, a few months after the second jab, there is a greater risk of catching Omicron compared to Delta.

“But the data suggests this risk is significantly reduced following a booster vaccine.

“We expect the vaccines to show higher protection against the serious complications of Covid-19.”

There are now a total of 1,898 confirmed cases of the variant, up by 633 since yesterday, but the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) say there are likely thousands more.

But up to 75,000 more Brits could die of Covid this winter as Omicron sweeps the country, doom-mongering scientists have warned.

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Even under the most optimistic scenario, the projected wave of infection could lead to a peak of more than 2,000 daily hospital admissions before April.

There could be a total of 175,000 hospital admissions and 24,700 deaths between December 1 this year and April 30, 2022.

But if boosters aren't as effective, Covid deaths could reach 74,800 as Omicron spreads, the report said.

This is if no additional control measures are implemented over and above the current Plan B – according to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine scientists.

Professor Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, University of East Anglia, said any model is "only as good as its assumptions", adding that one key assumption in this model is that severity of disease outcomes for Omicron is the same as for Delta.

"Although we will not know for certain for a few weeks indications from South Africa do suggest that Omicron does cause less severe disease than Delta.

"There is also early as yet not peer reviewed data suggesting that although Omicron mutations are enough to escape antibody, T cell immunity would be less compromised.

"It is thought that T cell immunity is more important for reducing risk from severe disease than it is for reducing the milder nose and throat infections.

"If Omicron is indeed associated with less severe disease as is, in my view, likely to be the case then these models would overestimate hospital admissions and deaths, possibly substantially," he said.

Prof Hunter said he suspects these models "overstate" risk of hospital admissions and deaths and the "worst case" scenarios are "unlikely to be seen".

He added: "As better data becomes available in coming weeks we can expect these models to be refined."

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